EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — With every passing choice, Rob Pelinka felt a wave of tension within the Los Angeles Lakers’ struggle room.
As soon as Tennessee wing Dalton Knecht slipped exterior of the top-10 picks, the Lakers had been hopeful he’d in some way fall to them. As groups continued to cross on the 23-year-old sharpshooter, the Lakers’ optimism — and coinciding nerves — elevated.
Nonetheless, group executives appeared round at one another and repeatedly mentioned, “There’s no manner 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 method the 2024 NBA Draft, they saved the No. 17 choose and chosen Knecht on Wednesday.
“We by no means would’ve imagined a participant as expert and excellent for our wants could be there for us as Dalton Knecht,” mentioned Pelinka, the group’s vice chairman of basketball operations and normal 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 manner a participant like this shall be obtainable for us to select on draft evening. Throughout the board, simply couldn’t be happier.”
The Lakers requested a exercise with Knecht throughout the draft course of, however his camp declined as a result of they didn’t suppose he’d be obtainable by the seventeenth choose. The 6-foot-6, 212-pound wing was projected to go within the high 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 final mock draft. The Athletic’s John Hollinger had Knecht ranked 14th on his board, additionally just a few spots forward of the place he was taken.
Pelinka provided a complete breakdown of Knecht’s talent 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 mentioned. “He’s bodily. He’s athletic, actually a three-and-D participant, which each and every roster craves. However he’s additionally a very good athlete. On the mix, he had a 39-inch vertical. So, he’s received the flexibility to go off the bounce, assault the rim when groups run him off the road. So, that versatility is absolutely onerous to seek out.
“And we simply suppose he suits so nicely with our pillar items in AD and hopefully if issues work out in free company, with LeBron. However to have a man that can trigger gravitational pull due to his capturing and likewise whenever you run shooters across the courtroom like he can do, it morphs the protection. It simply opens up driving lanes. So, there’s simply a number 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 affords popping out of highschool. He as an alternative started his faculty profession at Northeastern Junior Faculty in Colorado for 2 seasons earlier than enjoying two seasons for Northern Colorado within the Massive Sky Convention. After a breakout marketing campaign, Knecht transferred to Tennessee, the place he turned probably the greatest 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 % capturing. The bona fide sniper shot 39.7 % on 6.5 3-point makes an attempt per sport final season. He shot 42.3 % on catch-and-shoot 3s (an elite mark) and 36.8 % on 3s off screens (a superb 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 may also fly off floppy actions and flare screens, creating separation together with his footwork and physique management.
However Knecht is greater than only a shooter; he’s a real three-level risk. He has legit measurement with a 6-foot-9 wingspan and 8-foot-7 1/2 standing attain. He’s additionally a superb athlete, boasting a 39-inch vertical, which permits him to attain in site visitors over rim protectors. He’s wonderful at leaping off two ft. He’s a wise cutter who will make a defender pay for top-locking him. He’s a strong finisher in transition as nicely. 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 probably the greatest mentors doable in Redick, who can shepherd him into discovering his position within the NBA. Redick emphasized an increase in 3-point volume in his introductory press convention, and Knecht seamlessly suits into that technique.
Pelinka mentioned Redick grabbed a whiteboard and started designing pindown actions and after-timeout (ATO) performs for Knecht moments after the choice.
“That’s actually thrilling,” Knecht informed reporters in New York when relayed Redick’s planning. “At Tennessee, I watched a number of JJ Redick with Coach (Rick) Barnes and simply the way in which he strikes and paces himself and was capable of create area. 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 considerations, in accordance with league sources. At 23, Knecht is outdated for a first-round prospect, hypothetically limiting his long-term upside. That additionally theoretically places extra strain on him to contribute instantly, as there isn’t the identical grace interval in comparison with if he had been 19 or 20. The Lakers aren’t involved with Knecht’s age, although, as they imagine 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 capacity to disprove his doubters.
“Each time I contact a basketball or stroll right into a health club, I at all times really feel like I received one thing to show,” Knecht mentioned. “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 measurement and athleticism haven’t translated to that aspect of the ball as nicely. He has a nasty behavior of standing upright too typically, permitting defenders to blow by him on the perimeter. He’s wonderful 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 shortly — he progresses on the defensive finish will decide if he can keep on the ground, barring him being a 40-plus % shooter from 3 (which is actually doable).
On that entrance, Pelinka additionally mentioned the group is just not involved with any perceived defensive limitations for Knecht due to his measurement and athleticism.
“This child has improved his physique,” Pelinka mentioned. “He’s gonna stay within the weight room. He’s dedicated to getting stronger, staying fast. And I simply suppose his measurement alone — he’s a plus-four wingspan. He’s received good measurement for a shooter. A variety of groups, when you could have a shooter, it’s important to conceal him on the opposite finish. And that’s not the case with him. … I like his probabilities.”
In early April, James referenced followers eager 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 choose within the 2024 NBA Draft.
Beforehand, LeBron James mentioned 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 mentioned then. “Gamers, relying on who they’re, will drive the eye in the case of viewership.”
Knecht mentioned 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 mentioned. “I used to be identical to, ‘There’s no manner.’ And once I watched that video, it simply introduced a smile to my face. And in addition my dad and mom, they known as me instantly and informed 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 choose 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 fascinating when contemplating how James and Anthony Davis feel about the current state of the roster.
Pelinka mentioned 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 mentioned. “I do suppose for those who polled all 30 GMs throughout the league, simply typically, trades have turn out to be harder 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 preserve us from making an attempt to have a look at every thing and methods to place ourselves in methods to be in place to be higher.
“However even this choose alone, I really feel like provides us a giant increase and we’re enthusiastic about it.”
Whether or not James and Davis share that pleasure stays to be seen. For what it’s price, the Lakers have one other shot to attempt to pull off a blockbuster commerce on Thursday, when additionally they have the No. 55 choose.
When the evening started, the Lakers weren’t positive in the event that they had been going to maintain their choose, 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 wished to maintain the choose.
“The draft is an unpredictable course of,” Pelinka mentioned. “You by no means know the way it’s going to go when the evening begins. And for it to finish this manner, we couldn’t be extra thrilled.”
(Photograph of Dalton Knecht in opposition to Auburn final season: Eakin Howard / Getty Pictures)
