While the summer hasn't exactly gone the way most Los Angeles Lakers fans would have liked, as the team was eerily quiet in free agency despite clearly being stuck in the middle of the Western Conference's pack, the lone bright spot of the offseason thus far – minus the polarizing Bronny James coverage – was the drafting of Dalton Knecht out of Tennessee.
Widely considered one of the, if not the true steals of the 2024 NBA draft after falling to pick 17 despite being near-exclusively considered a lock for the lottery, Knecht landed on a team with one of the greatest shooters in NBA history as his coach and a roster desperately in need of floor spacers around their top two stars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
And if you tuned into Summer League, it's fare to say there's plenty to be excited about when it comes to Knecht, as his scoring ability came as avertised.
Standing 6-foot-6, 213 pounds and hailing from snowy Fargo, North Dakota, Knecht led all rookies in points per game at 21.3 and impressed as a deep-ball shooter, hitting 39.1 percent of his shots from deep even if he was only slightly better from the field at 41.8 percent. While fans would really like to see his field goal percentage above 50, Knecht looked confident as a driver, and his shot was large as advertised, as he truly does look like he can let it fly from NBA range without any major growing pains.
On a highlight reel, Knecht looks like a seamless fit for what the Lakers are going for but alas, there are other aspects to the NBA than simply shooting the 3-ball open and contested, and that is where the collegiate Volunteer was far less effective against much easier competition than he will see this fall.
You see, coming out of college, Knecht was widely dinged for being a poor defender, so much so that he slipped anywhere from five to ten spots from where fans expected him to be drafted. While being an elite prospect at one facet of the game is important and used to be enough to land a prospect in the draft, in the modern NBA of 2024, teams really do look for two-way players who can hold up in the playoffs, with the one-way shooters of old largely being played off the court and replaced with more well rounded two-way prospects.
Could Knecht play the role of Malik Beasley from a few years back? Sure thing, but when you consider he had to sign a veteran minimum deal with the Bucks after playing for the Lakers and is now on a one-year, $6 million deal with the Detroit Pistons after a solid season in Milwaukee, the days of an elite shooter who can't do anything else has clearly been disincentivized.
Can Knecht put it all together and become at least passable as a defender, passer, and rebounder? Only time will tell, but his head coach, JJ Redick, is excited to work with him on rounding out his game, as even an all-time great marksman from 3 now knows he needs two-way players to succeed in the NBA.
The Lakers need Dalton Knecht to be a two-way player
Speaking of Knecht's current status as a one-way player with legitimate questions regarding his viability as a heavy minutes regular season player, let alone as part of a playoff rotation, Redick stopped by his old pals at ESPN during their broadcast of the first night of Summer League to talk about his rookie shooter and how he could translate his game to the NBA.
While Redick clearly loves what he sees from the Tennessee product on the offensive side of the ball, even the Lakers head coach, a prolific shooter in his own right, believes he needs to shore things up on the other end of the court to really become a high-usage player.
“We know he can shoot the ball. I spent 30 mins with him yesterday on the court after practice with live defense, going through some actions and just working with him on creating separation. He shot pretty darn well. I know he can shoot it,” Redick told ESPN via Lakers Nation.
“So it’s the other parts of his game. The defense. The rebounding. The passing. Just the feel of the game that I have also been impressed with… Obviously, we know in the NBA you have to be a two-way player to make an impact, and defensively he’s got to improve like any rookie.”
At 23, it's fair for Lakers fans to expect Knecht to be a bit more advanced than some of your usual NBA rookies, as he was one of the older players in the Summer League despite being a rookie, but when you consider the main reason, why he fell in the draft was because of his one-dimensional game, the breaks should be pumped ever so slightly on Knecht becoming an Austin Reeves-level contributor at least right away, as he is a bit of a project should Redick want to optimize his eventual ceiling, even if his floor should give him rotational minutes right away.
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