Dalton Knecht was a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year award in college basketball. He eventually lost out to the Grizzlies ninth overall pick, Zach Edey, who had a phenomenal season. Either way, Knecht’s rookie preview has many Lakers fans excited as he possesses great talent and fills a need. Sliding down the draft board to pick #17 made new head coach JJ Reddick ecstatic.
Let’s take a look at Knecht’s rookie preview for the upcoming season.
NBA Rookie Preview: Dalton Knecht
Prospect Profile
Knecht’s path to the NBA draft is certainly an underdog story. He was an unranked prospect coming out of high school, and he first attended Northeastern Junior College. After two seasons there, he played two more at Northern Colorado, an FCS school in the Big Sky conference. For his fifth year and final season, Knecht took college basketball by storm after transferring to Tennessee. He became the SEC Player of the Year, and it was largely due to his elite shooting ability. Knecht shot 39.7 percent from three on a ridiculous 6.5 attempts per game. His threes came off the dribble and off of movement as other teams specifically game-planned for him each night. That didn’t stop him from averaging 21.7 points per game however.
Knecht is a six-foot-six wing who’s a great perimeter shooter and also goes for big dunks when given a runway. His movement shooting ability sprinkled in with highlight dunks is very similar to a later-career Terrence Ross. Knecht has also shown value as a cutter making him a great off-ball role player. Role players should be valued in this draft class, and his overall ability is very similar to Bogdan Bogdanovic of the Hawks. Currently, Knecht isn’t the best lateral mover on defense, but there’s reason to believe he will be serviceable. It was reported that these defensive concerns, along with being a 23 year old rookie, were the major factors in his draft day fall.
Team Fit
While his draft day slide may not have been planned, Knecht should be thrilled about his prospective fit with the Lakers. The team’s major need on their roster was better perimeter shooting, especially on the wings. It’s arguable that when you take into account shooting from a variety of platforms, nobody in this class is better than Knecht. He reminds many people of a taller, more athletic version of his new head coach. If anyone knows how to utilize an elite shooter who can play off the ball, it’s Reddick.
On a veteran roster with some young talent, Knecht fits the Lakers’ superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis perfectly. Both tend to collapse defenses after double teams and hard drives in the paint, making their tandem more needy for perimeter shooters. The rest of the Lakers starting five projects to be rounded out by Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and De’Angelo Russell. All these players can shoot, but it isn’t exactly considered an elite trait for them. That leaves Knecht competing with rotational players Max Christie, Gabe Vincent, and Cam Reddish.
Given Knecht’s talent and willingness to play within a needed role, I like his chances earning minutes.
Predictions
Knecht’s draft day slide could turn into a blessing if he’s able to consistently play big minutes for the Lakers. Not only would he play within a defined role that suits him well, but he’d also be playing for a team that gets more media attention than most everyone else. A few big game performances in a Lakers uniform garners attention no matter who you are, rookie and veteran alike.
I do think Knecht is more likely a second team All-Rookie selection at the highest however. First, even given his opportunity and team fit, he will mostly be relegated to shooting spot up three pointers. He won’t be asked to create for himself which limits his overall upside and ‘wow’ factor. Secondly, I’m most interested to see how Knecht impacts the game at the NBA level outside of shooting threes. He wasn’t a particularly great rebounder, he doesn’t project as a plus-defender, and he doesn’t generate assists as a creator either. It’s hard to maintain consistent performance when all your eggs are in one basket. In this instance, that basket is perimeter shooting.
Knecht’s rookie preview will be one I watch closely. He’s clearly a great shooter with good physical tools, but I’m interested to see if that’s his ceiling as a player. There will be a lot to learn from his first NBA season.
