Ahead of Wednesday night’s bout with the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick to put sharpshooter Dalton Knecht in the starting lineup instead of Cam Reddish next to LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves.
Knecht had previously been starting due to an injury to Hachimura, but this move likely makes him an official part of the starting five moving forward. The move felt like a full lean into the team’s already strong offensive identity, instead of trying to turn the roster into a defensive-minded one.
While it’s still a small sample size, the Lakers have been winning when Knecht is in the starting lineup and playing alongside James and Davis. And Davis felt strongly as to why Knecht in the starting lineup brings a different dynamic to the team, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:
“Spacing. He’s a shooter. He can shoot the basketball and was able to get some open shots. We were setting back screens and when you shoot the ball as well as he does, two people tend to go to him and we’ll be open at the rim or if their guy helps on me then we got another guy who’s open in the corner or on the wing. So he brings a different dynamic to us whether that’s in the starting unit or the second unit. But specifically with that starting unit, he creates that spacing for us and when we swing it to him we know he’s gonna knock down the shot.”
The advanced stats paint a different picture thus far, though. The five-man lineup of James, Davis, Knecht, Reaves and Hachimura has a minus-11.3 net rating in 30 minutes together. And the three-man combo of James, Davis and Knecht have a minus-8.4 net rating.
However, this is a case of the eye test and the numbers differing greatly, and the hope is at some point the two even out to be more similar. The Lakers look like a better team when they can play five-out with their starting lineup, and perhaps more time together will have the numbers reflect that.
Dalton Knecht shared JJ Redick’s message to him
Dalton Knecht responded to the starting lineup switch immediately. He finished with a team-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds on an efficient 8-for-15 shooting night in the win over the Spurs.
The Lakers got the win, 119-101, and ended their three-game skid. And after the game, Knecht spoke about the messaging from JJ Redick and his staff after being moved back into the starting lineup.
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