Lakers land NBA draft steal as Dalton Knecht moves up to 17th overall

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — With each successful selection, Rob Pelinka felt a wave of anxiety in the Los Angeles Lakers situation room.

Once Tennessee wing Dalton Knecht slipped outside the top 10, the Lakers hoped he would somehow fall to them. As teams continued to pass up the 23-year-old sharpshooter, the Lakers’ optimism — and the nervousness that came with it — grew.

Yet the team leaders looked at each other and repeatedly said, “There’s no way he’s still here.” »

Except when the Philadelphia 76ers drafted Duke guard Jared McCain at No. 16, Knecht was still there — and was a unanimous selection among the Lakers’ scouting department. After months of speculation about how the Lakers would approach the 2024 NBA Draft, they held on to the No. 17 pick and selected Knecht on Wednesday.

“We never imagined that a player as talented and perfect for our needs would be there for us like Dalton Knecht,” said Pelinka, the team’s vice president of basketball operations and general manager. “We unanimously placed him among the top 10 players in our recruiting committees. I was at the SEC tournament to watch him in depth. In my mind, there is no way a player like this would be available for us to pick on draft night. At all levels, just I couldn’t be happier.

The Lakers asked Knecht for a tryout during the draft process, but his team declined because they did not believe he would be available at the 17th pick. The 6-foot-6, 212-pound winger was projected to be in the top 10 in most mock drafts. The AthleticDraft insider Sam Vecenie ranked Knecht ninth on his draft board and projected him to go sixth to the Charlotte Hornets in his latest mock draft. The AthleticJohn Hollinger had Knecht ranked 14th on his board, also a few places ahead of where he was taken.

Pelinka offered a comprehensive analysis of Knecht’s skill set and how he sees him fitting in in Los Angeles.

“He’s a three-level scorer, a guy who’s going to defend,” Pelinka said. “He’s physical. He is athletic, truly a three and D player, which is what every team dreams of. But he is also a very good athlete. At the combine, he had a 39-inch vertical. So he has the ability to rebound, attack the rim when teams push him off the line. So this versatility is really hard to find.

“And we just think he fits so well with our pillars in AD and hopefully, if things work out in free agency, with LeBron. But having a guy that’s going to have a gravitational pull because of his shooting and also when you run shooters down the court like he can, it transforms the defense. It just opens up the driving lanes. So there’s a lot of versatility in his game and I think he gives us a weapon that we don’t have on our roster right now.”

Knecht’s basketball journey is unconventional. He was a late bloomer who didn’t get any Division I offers out of high school. He instead began his college career at Northeastern Junior College in Colorado for two seasons before playing two seasons for Northern Colorado in the Big Sky Conference. After a stellar campaign, Knecht transferred to Tennessee, where he became one of the best players in the country last season. He earned first-team All-America, first-team All-SEC honors and the SEC Player of the Year award. He was also a finalist for National Player of the Year and won the Julius Erving Award as the nation’s best small forward.

As a fifth-year senior, Knecht averaged 21.7 points on 49.9 percent shooting. The sniper made 39.7 percent of his 6.5 three-point attempts per game last season. He made 42.3% of his catch-and-shoot three-point attempts (an elite mark) and 36.8% of his three-point attempts off-screen (a good mark). He ranked ninth in three-point attempts per game and 11th in three-point attempts per game. He can excel as a precision weapon for LeBron James’ drive-and-kicks or Anthony Davis’ short passes. He can also soar on soft actions and flare screens, creating separation with his footwork and body control.

But Knecht is more than just a shooter; it’s a real threat on three levels. He has legitimate size with a wingspan of 6 feet 9 inches and a standing reach of 8 feet 7 1/2. He’s also a good athlete, boasting a 39-inch vertical, which allows him to score in traffic with rim protectors. He is excellent at jumping on two feet. He’s a smart cutter who will make a defender pay to lock him down from the top. He is also a strong finisher in transition. In theory, he should be able to contribute offensively from day one and project as a back-end rotation player at a minimum.

In many ways, Knecht resembles Lakers head coach JJ Redick, who enjoyed a productive 15-year NBA career being one of the best 3-point shooters and move shooters in the league. Knecht has one of the best mentors possible in Redick, who can help him find his role in the NBA. Redick highlighted a 3-point volume increase during his introductory press conference, and Knecht fits into that strategy perfectly.

Pelinka said Redick grabbed a whiteboard and began designing pinch actions and after-timeout (ATO) plays for Knecht moments after the pick.

“It’s really exciting,” Knecht told reporters in New York when relaying Redick’s plans. “At Tennessee, I watched JJ Redick a lot with coach (Rick) Barnes and the way he moves and paces himself and is able to create space. So to hear that, it’s really exciting and it’s going to be really special.

Knecht slipped in the draft due to his age and defensive issues, according to league sources. At 23, Knecht is old for a first-round prospect, which hypothetically limits his long-term potential. It also theoretically puts more pressure on him to contribute immediately, because there isn’t the same grace period as if he were 19 or 20 years old. The Lakers don’t care about Knecht’s age, as they believe the chip on his shoulder and his slide in the draft will push him to continue to improve.

Knecht agrees, citing his unique path to the league as proof of his ability to disprove his doubters.

“Every time I touch a basketball or walk into a gym, I always feel like I have something to prove,” Knecht said. “And no matter where I am, it’ll always be there and I’ll have this feeling on my shoulder of feeling like I’ve been underestimated my whole life.” So it will be something that I carry with me for the rest of my career. »

As for his defense, Knecht’s size and athleticism haven’t translated to that side of the ball as well. He has a bad habit of standing too often, which allows defenders to pass by him on the perimeter. He fits well into a team scheme, for the most part, but he’s currently a defensive negative that teams will inevitably target. How well — and how quickly — he progresses on the defensive end will determine whether he can stay on the court, unless he’s a better than 40 percent shooter from 3 (which is certainly possible).

On that front, Pelinka also said the organization isn’t concerned about perceived defensive limitations for Knecht due to his size and athleticism.

“This kid improved his body,” Pelinka said. “He’s going to live in the weight room. He is committed to getting stronger and staying fast. And I just think about his size – he has a wingspan of plus four. It is a good size for a shooter. On a lot of teams, when you have a shooter, you have to hide him on the other end. And that’s not his case. …I like his chances.

In early April, James referenced fans wanting to see a player like Knecht, who had just scored 37 points in an Elite Eight loss to Purdue.

The Lakers selected Dalton Knecht with the No. 17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

Previously, LeBron James said he watched Purdue play Tennessee because of Zach Edey and Knecht. pic.twitter.com/8xk5k2n5Hw

– The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 27, 2024

“We watched that Purdue-Tennessee game because of Zach Edey and (Dalton) Knecht,” James said then. “The players, depending on who they are, will attract attention in terms of viewership.”

Knecht said he woke up to a bunch of calls and texts after the clip of James discussing the college game went viral.

“Yes, I remember that clip,” Knecht said. “I was just like, ‘There’s no way.’ And when I watched this video, it made me smile. And also my parents, they called me right away and told me about it. So it’s going to be special.

Wednesday marked the first time the Lakers could trade three first-round picks in 2024, 2029 and 2031. (Technically, they would have to trade pick No. 17 after he was selected.) That the Lakers held on, especially with teams. like the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves making notable trades to improve their rosters over the past couple of days, is interesting when considering what James and Anthony Davis think about the current state of the roster.

Pelinka said the Lakers’ inactivity on draft night wasn’t due to lack of effort.

“We explored every possible improvement to improve our team,” Pelinka said. “I think if you ask all 30 general managers around the league, in general, trades have become more difficult because of the new CBA system. And so, I think, there’s less access to these big changes than perhaps was the case under the old system. But that didn’t stop us from trying to look at everything and think about ways to put ourselves in a position to be better.

“But even that pick alone, I feel like it gives us a big boost and we’re excited about it.” »

It remains to be seen whether James and Davis share this enthusiasm. For what it’s worth, the Lakers have another chance to try to pull off a blockbuster trade on Thursday, when they will also have the No. 55 pick.

When the night started, the Lakers weren’t sure if they were going to keep their pick, trade up, trade down, or if they were going to opt out of the draft altogether. But once Knecht came upon them, they knew they’d landed a gem – the type of shooter they’d coveted for years – and wanted to keep the pick.

“The project is an unpredictable process,” Pelinka said. “You never know what it’s going to be like when the night starts. And for it to end this way, we couldn’t be more thrilled.

(Photo of Dalton Knecht against Auburn last season: Eakin Howard/Getty Images)