After a fairly impressive preseason, Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht set himself up to be in the rotation from the get-go. Seeing how a lottery talent fell to L.A. at 17th spot in the NBA Draft, the 23-year-old was ready to contribute right away.
Head coach JJ Redick acknowledged he was going with a nine-man rotation and with injuries to Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood, Knecht elevated a few spots. Through this early part of the season, the former Tennessee Volunteer has already had moments of scoring outbursts, recently on Saturday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
The rookie got the start with Rui Hachimura and Cam Reddish ruled out and he took advantage of the opportunity. After dropping a career-high 27 points and making five three-pointers, Knecht was a big reason L.A. came back in the second half and won.
There often is an adjustment period for rookies, but Knecht acknowledged that Redick’s confidence in him has aided him in these hot shooting nights.
“It’s always good to have a coach like that, a coach that is super confident in you, always wanting you to shoot the ball. So, when I do go out there and shoot some crazy shots or something that I shouldn’t be shooting, it’s always good that JJ will have my back,” Knecht said. “And those guys like LeBron and AD always encourage me to shoot the ball. They say I practice it all the time, just be out there and play super confident.”
Knecht had to clarify that he believes that he has not taken a crazy shot this season.
“No, not at all. I think every time I shoot the ball, I think it’s a great shot,” Knecht said with a laugh.
In that case, he is not wrong as there have been moments where the Lakers have greatly needed his scoring production to get them back into games. Other examples being against the Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors, where he sparked offensive momentum for the team.
It is going to be interesting to monitor the rookie’s role as the season progresses and players get healthy. Redick is going to have a tough time not giving Knecht more minutes due to nights like these.
LeBron James not surprised by strong performance from Dalton Knecht
LeBron James and Anthony Davis are going to be the vocal point of opposing defenses, so having role players step up is going to be vital. For a player like Dalton Knecht to step up, it makes their lives a lot easier.
However, James is not surprised by Knecht’s career-high 27-point performance against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday as he knew he was pro ready coming into the league.
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