While Knowles experienced considerable success with the Wave, he had frequent disagreements with the Wave's ownership. This led to his expressing a desire to be traded. On December 26, 1996, the Wave acquiesced to Knowles desires and traded him to the Cleveland Crunch for Glenn Carbonara, Todd Dusosky, Obi Moneme and cash. He was injured while in Cleveland and saw little playing time. On July 29, 1997, Knowles bought out the remaining three years of his contract with the Crunch and signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia KiXX. In the 1997–1998 season, his first in Philadelphia, Knowles experienced a resurgence which led to his third Defender of the Year award. After one more season with the KiXX, Knowles moved to the Detroit Rockers. Knowles played two seasons in Detroit before the Rockers folded at the end of the 2000–2001 season.