Lakers Rookie Sounds Off on Starting Role Change

Getty Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht talks with head coach JJ Redick.

Los Angeles Lakers rookie head coach JJ Redick put Dalton Knecht back into the starting lineup and it paid off with a 119-101 win over the San Antonio Spurs on November 27 to snap a three-game losing skid.

Knecht returned to his scoring ways after a pair of single-digit outings off the bench over the Lakers’ last two games. The rookie swingman tallied a team-high 20 points as he looked more comfortable with the starting unit. He sank 8-of-15 shots with four 3-pointers against the Spurs.

“Pretty much [Redick] told me is, I’m going to start and ‘Just be you. Just go out there and be aggressive, shoot the ball.’ And, you know, whether he said that or not, I was going to go do that,” said the confident rookie to Lakers sideline reporter Mike Trudell after picking up the win.

Knecht replaced Cam Reddish, who was previously doing the dirty work in the starting lineup.

JJ Redick Reveals Reason Behind Lineup Change

Redick said he crunched some numbers before making the major lineup change.

“I think you sometimes just got to look at numbers, and we are in constant communication with our analytics group,” Redick told reporters. “But we recognize that you probably need about 250 minutes to really gain stuff and look at something in terms of lineup data.

“And we’re not there yet with some of these lineups, but we felt like the [Knecht] stuff was great, and tonight was trying to figure out a way to get a win. Knowing that we were going to be redding (switching) one through five as the game plan, it just felt like a game that we could get him in there.”

Knecht, the 17th overall pick of this year’s NBA draft, added eight rebounds, two steals and one assist in 31 minutes.

Anthony Davis notched his 11th double-double of the season with 19 points and 14 rebounds. The Lakers big man also added seven assists as he continued to become the hub of the Lakers’ offense.

LeBron James had his sixth triple-double this season, eclipsing last season’s five. The 39-year-old Lakers superstar finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.

Dalton Knecht: ‘I’m a Three-Level Scorer’

Knecht did not only light up the scoreboard from behind the 3-point arc, but he also attacked the lane when the Spurs perimeter defenders closed out on him.

After the Spurs came within 67-63, Knecht scored on a floater in the lane and intercepted Victor Wembanyama‘s pass, which led to an outlet pass to Davis for an uncontested dunk.

The Lakers restored a double-digit lead 73-63 and cruised to the victory.

“I’m not just a straight shooter,” Knecht told Trudell. “I’m a three-level scorer. I think I showed that in college. So, you know, just keep going out there and shooting mid-range, shooting floaters, getting to the rim, dunking and laying it up.”

The rookie out of Tennessee was the SEC Player of the Year last season, voted by the coaches and by the Associated Press, after averaging a college career-high 21.7 points in his lone season with the Volunteers.

The 23-year-old Knecht was one of the older players in the draft, which explained his slide from the lottery. Fortunately for the Lakers, he fell on their lap just as when they had limited avenues to add a dynamic shooter in the offseason.