The Los Angeles Lakers have yet to make a splash this offseason via free agency or trade, but they may have had a better first round of the NBA draft than any of the competition.
The reason why is Dalton Knecht, the 23-year-old rookie out of Tennessee who the Lakers selected No. 17 overall. Knecht played a fifth collegiate season in 2023-24 after two years in junior college and another two at Northern Colorado.
Knecht’s foray into the SEC made him a star. He averaged 21.7 points and hit 39.7% of his 6.5 attempts from behind the 3-point line per game. Knecht led Tennessee to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a trip to the Elite 8 before falling to Purdue, the eventual runner-up to Uconn.
Knecht scored 37 points in 37 minutes during that loss and cemented himself as a legitimate first-round prospect. That he fell to 17th raised eyebrows and now appears a boon for Los Angeles. Mo Dakhil of Bleacher Report on Sunday, July 21, dubbed Knecht among the top rookie steals of the draft based on his performance at Summer League.
“Knecht could not have landed in a better spot than the Lakers. He will play for a first-time coach, JJ Redick, who was a movement shooter during his playing days,” Dakhil wrote. “[Knecht] can give Redick minutes immediately to help stretch the floor for LeBron James and Anthony Davis.”
Dalton Knecht’s Sharpshooting Continued With Lakers in NBA Summer League
GettyDalton Knecht of the Los Angeles Lakers.
It took Knecht a bit of time to find his footing during summer basketball for the Lakers, but he did so once the Las Vegas portion of the schedule took off.
He finished 9th in scoring league-wide with 21.1 points per game, which also led the team. He connected on more than 39% of his 3-point tries on 7.7 attempts per game, according to NBA.com.
Knecht’s skill set is precisely what the Lakers need to help space the floor, as well as up the number of 3-point tries the team produces per contest. Dahkil pointed out that while the Lakers shot 37.7% from deep last season, they put up the third-fewest attempts with only 31.4 tries nightly.
The number of 3-point attempts correlated strongly with the top levels of team success in 2023-24. The top two teams in tries per game last season were the Boston Celtics (42.5) and the Dallas Mavericks (39.5), who met in the NBA Finals.
Lakers May End Up Back in Game for Jonas Valanciunas Via Trade
GettyJonas Valanciunas, formerly of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Knecht, who stands 6-feet-6 and weighs 213 pounds, is the type of wing player the Lakers needed to find this summer, and they did so on a rookie contract that pays him just $18.5 million over the next four seasons.
Los Angeles doesn’t have a lot of salary flexibility to add players after James inked a two-year deal for north of $101 million. However, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested the team may end up back in the mix for center Jonas Valanciunas after he inked a three-year contract worth approximately $10.1 million annually to join the Washington Wizards this offseason.
“Anthony Davis … looks awesome. And even though he’s, like, almost never looked better defensively, you’ve got JJ Redick out there on the record saying that, ‘We need a bruising center,'” Windhorst said during the July 19 edition of the “Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective” podcast. “[That’s] the reason they went after Jonas Valanciunas. By the way, do we think Jonas Valanciunas will be on offer from the Wizards midway through the season? I wouldn’t rule out Jonas Valanciunas eventually ending up a Laker this year.”
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Lakers’ 23-Year-Old Addition Dubbed Among Top Steals of Summer