The NBA dropping Dalton Knecht to No. 17 is criminal and will haunt the league for the next decade

Look at this guy. If I told you he was the 17th pick in this year’s NBA draft, you would probably ask some questions like, “Did he go to a Division III school?” Was he convicted of a heinous crime? Did he average seven points per game last year and come out of nowhere?”

No, he was a Naismith Trophy finalist at Tennessee who averaged 21.7 PPG in eight 30-point games while shooting 45.8% from the field and 39.7% from three games. He was the country’s leading scorer and almost single-handedly took the Vols to the Elite Eight. His only flaw is that he’s not an 18-year-old, but a polished, professional basketball player.

I understand why NBA teams want young, high-caliber talent who have what it takes to become superstars, but Knecht was clearly a player you could integrate into your team and produce from day one. Especially at a time when it seems like teams are finally starting to see the value of players who have spent multiple years in college but are clearly just great basketball players – Jalen Brunson, Jimmy Butler, Donovan Mitchell, Kawhi Leonard – I was shocked, Knecht fell so far that he was clearly one of the top three or four players available in the draft. Is it really much better to get a raw teenager that you hope will be something in four or five years than to have Knecht already able to do most of the things you would want at 23 years old ?

I don’t know, man. I really hope all the other teams are happy with their lottery picks of players like Tidjane Salaun and Bub Carrington. Maybe one day they will become the player that Knecht already is.