Lets wait and see what happens with the community discussion. Clearly they aim to discuss knockback but I honestly dont see how there can be some sort of satisfactory middle ground between the current system and java 1.8 knockback.
One other thing to point out is that all the people I see who say they enjoy the current system give a reason along the lines of "im used to it" and nothing about how the actual mechanics work for them. I think this is a flaw in itself, but again, we should see what is discussed in the community call.
And if it wasnt already clear, the solution is to make the KB like java 1.8. Thats pretty much been the implied solution this whole time, for everyone who has complained about knockback. I can safely speak for the masses on that.