It's going to be another losing year, so I don't see the benefit of winning 3-5 extra games by playing journeymen vets over developing yute. Playing a balance in order to try to be to some extent competitive seems reasonable, which was what we did last year mostly.
As for Knox, mostly he has an NBA body, which he doesn't take advantage of. His shooting stroke looks all right. He can drive and get to the rim, but tends to avoid contact and oddly stay low getting blocked far too much. Needs to bang. Should watch tape of a young Melo and Jason Tatum. Getting to the FT line and putting the ball through the hoop from there often helps a player get his O on track.
An increased motor could get him an extra board or two, plus maybe an easy cutting basket a game. Increased defensive awareness would help. Steady teammates, so he knows what to expect, could help. Knox isn't terribly far away and is young, but has a lot to work on and no core strengths yet. Essentially he is young, seems willing to learn and has an NBA body. Knox is younger than Toppings.
From the makeup of this team, Knox probably needs to knock down 3's in order to be useful. Has the size to shoot over most SF's. If he can adequately guard SF's that'd help a lot too, but he hasn't shown much on that end yet. I have trouble believing a young losing team will just bury their 3rd year lottery pick.