{"id":133013,"date":"2025-04-07T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T13:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=133013"},"modified":"2025-04-07T00:16:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T04:16:19","slug":"lakers-rookie-dalton-knecht-playoff-rotation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/07\/lakers-rookie-dalton-knecht-playoff-rotation\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Rookie Making Case for Playoff Rotation Spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amid a rollercoaster rookie season, Lakers<\/a> forward <\/span>Dalton Knecht<\/span><\/a> has found himself back in JJ Redick\u2019s rotation. But with the postseason fast approaching and key decisions yet to be made, has the 23-year-old done enough to be one of the nine or ten contributors toward a championship run?<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers Rookie Making Case for Playoff Rotation Spot<\/b><\/h2>\n

Redick Showing Continued Trust in Knecht<\/b><\/h3>\n

Dalton Knecht\u2019s re-insertion into the bench lineup came after some mediocre showings toward the end of March. After a string of subpar performances in limited minutes (sometimes five or less), Knecht returned to form in the Lakers’ win against the Pelicans over the weekend. In 20 minutes off the bench, he tallied 12 points on 5\/10 shooting from the field and 2\/6 from three. Redick reiterated his belief in the former Tennessee wing in his postgame remarks to the media.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t given up on Dalton,\u201d <\/span>Redick told reporters<\/span><\/a> Friday. \u201cWe feel like he\u2019s a guy that can help us win a game in the playoffs. Maybe multiple games because of his shooting and his ability to score. I thought it was a great way for him to start tonight with an offensive rebound on a crash and tip-in. Just showing how locked in he was to the game. The basketball Gods reward that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Knecht couldn\u2019t find similar success yesterday, though it was no fault of his own. He <\/span>drained his lone attempt from three<\/span><\/a> in garbage time as the Lakers blew out the best-in-the-West <\/span>Oklahoma City Thunder<\/span><\/a>. The win also put the Lakers in the history books, as they <\/span>tied a franchise-high for threes made in a game<\/span><\/a> (a season-high 22).<\/span><\/p>\n

The 6’6″ forward has ridden the rookie wave this year, and fans should remember the type of impact he can have whenever his number is called. On the season, Knecht is averaging 9.1 points and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 46% from the field, 37% from three and 75% from the free-throw line.<\/span><\/p>\n

Knecht Worthy of Playoff Minutes<\/b><\/h3>\n

In a time when the Lakers need high-octane offense and pinpoint perimeter shooting, Dalton Knecht checks those boxes and certainly deserves a shot in the playoffs. He has already proven he can score in bursts and perform well against postseason contenders. Knecht gave a <\/span>LeBron James<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Luka Doncic<\/span><\/a>-less Laker team a fighting chance against Denver with <\/span>a 32-point outing<\/span><\/a>, and he managed <\/span>20 points while starting against the Thunder<\/span><\/a> in November\u2019s In-Season Tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n

The rookie\u2019s offensive prowess cannot be denied, and his work can be crucial in non-LeBron and non-Luka minutes for the Lakers. With the Lakers constantly employing a \u201cnext man up\u201d mentality, Knecht can be a spark plug off the bench with his ability to get buckets from all over the floor. While there\u2019s always a concern that his defense will slip or that he\u2019ll hit a wall at the worst time, it\u2019s important to remember that not all the pressure falls on Knecht. Rather, he can be a small but positive piece toward a greater puzzle that is the Lakers rotation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Knecht\u2019s progress is something to watch as the regular season winds down. With constant reassurance from his teammates and coaches, he should have no problem acclimating to the raucous postseason environment, and given his stay-ready attitude, he has a chance to play a vital role when it matters the most.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Petre Thomas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid a rollercoaster rookie season, Lakers forward Dalton Knecht has found himself back in JJ Redick\u2019s rotation. But with the postseason fast approaching and key decisions yet to be made, has the 23-year-old done enough to be one of the nine or ten contributors toward a championship run? Lakers Rookie Making Case for Playoff Rotation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":133017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62],"tags":[49212,2279,38,1133],"class_list":["post-133013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","tag-dalton-knecht","tag-jj-redick","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133013"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133023,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133013\/revisions\/133023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}