EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — With every passing choice, Rob Pelinka felt a wave of tension within the Los Angeles Lakers’ conflict room.
As soon as Tennessee wing Dalton Knecht slipped exterior of the top-10 picks, the Lakers have been hopeful he’d in some way fall to them. As groups continued to go on the 23-year-old sharpshooter, the Lakers’ optimism — and coinciding nerves — elevated.
Nonetheless, group executives seemed round at one another and repeatedly stated, “There’s no means he’s going to nonetheless be there.”
Besides, when the Philadelphia 76ers drafted Duke guard Jared McCain at No. 16, Knecht was nonetheless there — and was a unanimous choice among the many Lakers’ scouting division. After months of hypothesis about how the Lakers would strategy the 2024 NBA Draft, they saved the No. 17 decide and chosen Knecht on Wednesday.
“We by no means would’ve imagined a participant as expert and excellent for our wants can be there for us as Dalton Knecht,” stated Pelinka, the group’s vp of basketball operations and common supervisor. “We had him as a top-10 participant unanimously throughout our scouting boards. I used to be on the SEC event scouting him extensively. In my thoughts, there is no such thing as a means a participant like this can be obtainable for us to select on draft evening. Throughout the board, simply couldn’t be happier.”
The Lakers requested a exercise with Knecht in the course of the draft course of, however his camp declined as a result of they didn’t suppose he’d be obtainable by the seventeenth decide. The 6-foot-6, 212-pound wing was projected to go within the prime 10 in most mock drafts. The Athletic’s draft insider Sam Vecenie ranked Knecht ninth on his draft board and projected him to go sixth to the Charlotte Hornets in his closing mock draft. The Athletic’s John Hollinger had Knecht ranked 14th on his board, additionally a number of spots forward of the place he was taken.
Pelinka supplied a complete breakdown of Knecht’s ability set and the way he sees him becoming in with Los Angeles.
“He’s a three-level scorer, a man that’s going to defend,” Pelinka stated. “He’s bodily. He’s athletic, actually a three-and-D participant, which each roster craves. However he’s additionally a extremely good athlete. On the mix, he had a 39-inch vertical. So, he’s bought the flexibility to go off the bounce, assault the rim when groups run him off the road. So, that versatility is admittedly exhausting to seek out.
“And we simply suppose he matches so effectively with our pillar items in AD and hopefully if issues work out in free company, with LeBron. However to have a man that may trigger gravitational pull due to his capturing and likewise whenever you run shooters across the court docket like he can do, it morphs the protection. It simply opens up driving lanes. So, there’s simply quite a lot of versatility to his sport and I feel he provides us a weapon that we at present don’t have on our roster.”
Knecht’s basketball journey is unconventional. He was a late bloomer who didn’t garner any Division I gives popping out of highschool. He as an alternative started his faculty profession at Northeastern Junior School in Colorado for 2 seasons earlier than enjoying two seasons for Northern Colorado within the Huge Sky Convention. After a breakout marketing campaign, Knecht transferred to Tennessee, the place he grew to become among the finest gamers within the nation final season. He gained first-team All-America honors, first-team All-SEC and the SEC Participant of the Yr award. He was additionally a finalist for Nationwide Participant of the Yr and gained the Julius Erving Award because the nation’s greatest small ahead.
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As a fifth-year senior, Knecht averaged 21.7 factors on 49.9 p.c capturing. The bona fide sniper shot 39.7 p.c on 6.5 3-point makes an attempt per sport final season. He shot 42.3 p.c on catch-and-shoot 3s (an elite mark) and 36.8 p.c on 3s off screens ( mark). He ranked ninth in 3s per sport and eleventh in 3s tried per sport. He can thrive as a spot-up weapon for LeBron James’ drive-and-kicks or Anthony Davis’ short-roll passes. He also can fly off floppy actions and flare screens, creating separation along with his footwork and physique management.
However Knecht is greater than only a shooter; he’s a real three-level risk. He has legit dimension with a 6-foot-9 wingspan and 8-foot-7 1/2 standing attain. He’s additionally athlete, boasting a 39-inch vertical, which permits him to attain in site visitors over rim protectors. He’s glorious at leaping off two toes. He’s a sensible cutter who will make a defender pay for top-locking him. He’s a strong finisher in transition as effectively. In principle, he ought to have the ability to contribute offensively from day one, and initiatives as a backend rotation participant at a minimal.
In a number of methods, Knecht is much like Lakers head coach JJ Redick, who loved a productive 15-year NBA profession by being one of many league’s greatest 3-point marksmen and motion shooters. Knecht has among the finest mentors doable in Redick, who can shepherd him into discovering his position within the NBA. Redick emphasised a rise in 3-point quantity in his introductory press convention, and Knecht seamlessly matches into that technique.
Pelinka stated Redick grabbed a whiteboard and commenced designing pindown actions and after-timeout (ATO) performs for Knecht moments after the choice.
“That’s actually thrilling,” Knecht advised reporters in New York when relayed Redick’s planning. “At Tennessee, I watched quite a lot of JJ Redick with Coach (Rick) Barnes and simply the way in which he strikes and paces himself and was in a position to create house. So, listening to that, it’s actually thrilling and it’s going to be actual particular.”
Knecht slipped within the draft due to age and defensive issues, in response to league sources. At 23, Knecht is outdated for a first-round prospect, hypothetically limiting his long-term upside. That additionally theoretically places extra stress on him to contribute straight away, as there isn’t the identical grace interval in comparison with if he have been 19 or 20. The Lakers aren’t involved with Knecht’s age, although, as they consider the chip he carries on his shoulder and his slipping within the draft will drive him to proceed to enhance.
Knecht agrees, citing his distinctive path to the league as proof of his capability to disprove his doubters.
“Each time I contact a basketball or stroll right into a gymnasium, I at all times really feel like I bought one thing to show,” Knecht stated. “And it doesn’t matter the place I’m at, it’s at all times going to be there and have that chip on my shoulder for feeling like I’ve been underrated my entire life. So it’s going to be one thing that I’ll carry with me for the remainder of my profession.”
As for his protection, Knecht’s dimension and athleticism haven’t translated to that aspect of the ball as effectively. He has a foul behavior of standing upright too typically, permitting defenders to blow by him on the perimeter. He’s effective inside a group scheme, for essentially the most half, however he’s at present a defensive minus that groups will inevitably goal. How a lot — and the way rapidly — he progresses on the defensive finish will decide if he can keep on the ground, barring him being a 40-plus p.c shooter from 3 (which is definitely doable).
On that entrance, Pelinka additionally stated the group shouldn’t be involved with any perceived defensive limitations for Knecht due to his dimension and athleticism.
“This child has improved his physique,” Pelinka stated. “He’s gonna stay within the weight room. He’s dedicated to getting stronger, staying fast. And I simply suppose his dimension alone — he’s a plus-four wingspan. He’s bought good dimension for a shooter. Numerous groups, when you could have a shooter, it’s important to disguise him on the opposite finish. And that’s not the case with him. … I like his probabilities.”
In early April, James referenced followers desirous to see a participant like Knecht, who had simply scored 37 factors in an Elite Eight loss to Purdue.
The Lakers chosen Dalton Knecht with the No. 17 decide within the 2024 NBA Draft.
Beforehand, LeBron James stated he watched Purdue play Tennessee due to Zach Edey and Knecht. pic.twitter.com/8xk5k2n5Hw
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 27, 2024
“We watched that Purdue-Tennessee sport due to Zach Edey and (Dalton) Knecht,” James stated then. “Gamers, relying on who they’re, will drive the eye with regards to viewership.”
Knecht stated he woke as much as a bunch of calls and texts after the clip of James discussing the faculty sport went viral.
“Yeah, I do not forget that clip,” Knecht stated. “I used to be identical to, ‘There’s no means.’ And once I watched that video, it simply introduced a smile to my face. And likewise my dad and mom, they referred to as me straight away and advised me about it. In order that’s simply gonna be particular.”
Wednesday marked the primary time the Lakers may commerce three first-round picks in 2024, 2029 and 2031. (Technically, they’d need to commerce the No. 17 decide after it was chosen.) That the Lakers stood pat, particularly with groups just like the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves making notable trades to enhance their rosters over the previous couple of days, is attention-grabbing when contemplating how James and Anthony Davis really feel concerning the present state of the roster.
Pelinka stated the Lakers’ draft-night inactivity was not for lack of making an attempt.
“We explored each improve we may to make our group higher,” Pelinka stated. “I do suppose if you happen to polled all 30 GMs throughout the league, simply generally, trades have turn into tougher due to the brand new CBA system. And so, there’s much less entry, I feel, to creating these huge strikes than possibly there was below the outdated system. However it didn’t maintain us from making an attempt to have a look at all the pieces and methods to place ourselves in methods to be in place to be higher.
“However even this decide alone, I really feel like provides us an enormous enhance and we’re enthusiastic about it.”
Whether or not James and Davis share that pleasure stays to be seen. For what it’s value, the Lakers have one other shot to attempt to pull off a blockbuster commerce on Thursday, when additionally they have the No. 55 decide.
When the evening started, the Lakers weren’t certain in the event that they have been going to maintain their decide, commerce up, commerce down or commerce out of the draft altogether. However as soon as Knecht fell to them, they knew they’d landed a gem — the kind of shooter they’ve coveted for years — and needed to maintain the decide.
“The draft is an unpredictable course of,” Pelinka stated. “You by no means know the way it’s going to go when the evening begins. And for it to finish this fashion, we couldn’t be extra thrilled.”
(Picture of Dalton Knecht towards Auburn final season: Eakin Howard / Getty Photographs)