NBA rookie preview: Dalton Knecht

Dalton Knecht was a finalist for the Naismith Player of the Year award in college basketball. He ultimately lost out to the Grizzlies’ ninth overall pick, Zach Edey, who had a phenomenal season. Either way, Knecht’s rookie preview excited many Lakers fans as he has great talent and fills a need. When he moved down the draft board and picked 17th, new head coach JJ Reddick was thrilled.

Let’s take a look at Knecht’s rookie preview for the upcoming season.

NBA rookie preview: Dalton Knecht

Prospect profile

Knecht’s path to the NBA Draft is certainly an underdog story. After high school, he was an unpopular candidate and initially attended Northeastern Junior College. After two seasons there, he played two more at Northern Colorado, an FCS school in the Big Sky Conference. In his fifth year and final season, Knecht took college basketball by storm after transferring to Tennessee. He was named SEC Player of the Year, and that was largely thanks to his elite shooting ability. Knecht shot 39.7 percent from three attempts on a ridiculous 6.5 attempts per game. His three-pointers came off the dribble and on the move as other teams gameplanned specifically for him each night. However, that didn’t stop him from averaging 21.7 points per game.

Knecht is a 6’3″ winger, a great perimeter shooter and also makes big dunks when he’s on the runway. His motion shooting skills, coupled with highlight dunks, closely resemble those of a later Terrence Ross. Knecht has also shown his strengths as a cutter, making him a great off-ball role player. Role players should be valued in this draft class, and his overall skill set is very similar to that of the Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic. Currently, Knecht isn’t the best lateral player on defense, but there’s reason to believe he’ll be serviceable. It was reported that these defensive concerns, along with the fact that he is a 23-year-old rookie, were the main reasons for his failure on draft day.

Team fit

While his withdrawal on draft day may not have been planned, Knecht should be excited about his expected passing ability with the Lakers. The team’s biggest need on its roster was better outside shooting, particularly on the wings. Considering shooting from different platforms, there’s probably no one better than Knecht in this class. He reminds many people of a taller, more athletic version of their new head coach. If anyone knows how to field an elite shooter who can play off the ball, it’s Reddick.

On an experienced roster with some young talent, Knecht is a perfect fit alongside Lakers superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Both tend to collapse defenses downfield after double teams and hard drives, making their tandem more needy for perimeter shooters. The rest of the Lakers start five projects, rounded out by Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and De’Angelo Russell. All of these players can shoot, but it’s not exactly considered an elite trait for them. This puts Knecht in competition with rotation players Max Christie, Gabe Vincent and Cam Reddish.

Given Knecht’s talent and willingness to play in a needed role, I like his chances of getting minutes.

Predictions

Knecht’s draft day blip could turn into a blessing if he is able to consistently play big minutes for the Lakers. Not only would he be playing in a defined role that suits him well, but also for a team that receives more media attention than most. A few big performances in a Lakers jersey get attention no matter who you are, rookie or veteran.

However, I think Knecht is more of a second-team All-Rookie selection. Firstly, even considering his opportunity and suitability for the team, he will largely be relegated to the position with a three-point advantage. He is not required to create anything for himself, which limits his overall advantage and “wow” factor. Secondly, I’m particularly interested in how Knecht impacts the game at the NBA level outside of three-point shooting. He wasn’t a particularly good rebounder, he doesn’t profile as a plus defender and he doesn’t generate assists as a creator either. It’s difficult to maintain consistent performance when all your eggs are in one basket. In this case, this basket is a perimeter shooter.

I’ll take a close look at Knecht’s rookie preview. He’s clearly a great shooter with good physical skills, but I’m curious to see if that’s his ceiling as a player. There will be a lot to learn from his first NBA season.