The Los Angeles Lakers may have gotten the steal of the 2024 NBA Draft when they took Dalton Knecht at No. 17 in the first round.
He was widely considered to be a top-10 prospect but fell to the Lakers, who couldn’t pass up such a talented prospect in the middle of the first round. A true shooter who can spot up or move off the ball, Knecht’s role is easy to project at the professional level and his selection also indicates head coach JJ Redick intends to space the floor more.
Vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka was ecstatic to select the Tennessee wing and he has high hopes for the rookie during the 2024-25 season, via Mike Trudell of Lakers.com:
“We think he’s a player who can play on next year’s team and make a real impact,” explained Pelinka. “He has a lot of upside left in his game. Of course his journey, he started out in junior college and made it all the way to Tennessee; at every step he’s improved, and we’ll expect that improvement at the next level as well.”
Pelinka went on to praise Knecht’s collegiate experience and what he brings to the table:
“The SEC Player of the Year, one of the toughest conferences, so just his competitive nature stood out,” summarized Pelinka. “He’s a 3-level scorer. A guy that’s going to defend. He’s physical and athletic, really a 3 and D player, which every roster craves. He’s also a really good athlete. At the combine, he had a 39-inch vertical. So he has the ability to go off the bounce and attack the rim when teams run him off the line.
“That versatility is really hard to find. We just think he fits so well with our pillar pieces with AD, and hopefully if things work out in free agency with LeBron. To have a guy that will cause gravitational pull because of his shooting, and also when you run shooters around the court like he can do, it morphs the defense and just opens up driving lanes. There’s just a lot of versatility to his game, and I think he gives us a weapon that we currently don’t have on our roster.”
Having a lottery-level talent fall to Los Angeles was fortuitous and now it’ll be exciting to see what Knecht does with his opportunity.
Dalton Knecht fell to Lakers because of age and defense concerns
Although Dalton Knecht deserved to go earlier in the draft, he reportedly fell to the Lakers because of concerns about his age and defense.
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