The Los Angeles Lakers are entering the 2024-25 season having not made many major changes from last year when they were knocked out of the first round of the postseason in five games. Two of their biggest changes were swapping out their head coach — firing Darvin Ham and hiring JJ Redick — and selecting Dalton Knecht with the No. 17 overall pick in the NBA Draft.
Knecht is not the average 17th overall pick by any measure. He was one of the best players in college basketball last season and was expected to be a top-10 pick on draft night. However, teams were turned off by the fact that he was already 23 years old and would be turning 24 during his rookie season. He fell right into the Lakers’ lap at No. 17 when the team had been weighing trading the pick outright.
Now, the rookie sharpshooter is expected to be a part of the Lakers rotation from the opening tip. And Redick explained exactly why he feels Knecht will earn his place in the NBA, via The Lowe Post with ESPN’s Zach Lowe:
“Even just with like Dalton [Knecht], to me, I told him this the other day, he is in the 1% of shooters. He’s in the 1%. He has a skill that is just hard to find. He’s gonna have a chance to earn a spot in the rotation.”
The NBA has slowly moved away from specific specialists in recent years in favor or positional and skill versatility. However, there will always be a space in the league for players who are absolutely elite in a category and can find ways to be contributors elsewhere.
The Lakers have a couple specialists on their roster, including Knecht from 3-point range and Jarred Vanderbilt for his perimeter defense. Both are going to have significant chances to make an impact for the Lakers this season. And Redick, one of the original 3-point specialists, is going to have a chance to work directly with Knecht to maximize his potential.
JJ Redick says lack of depth is not a concern for Lakers
There have already been much made of the Lakers’ lack of changes this offseason, and therefore their potential lack of depth. An early injury bug has already called into question the Lakers roster, but Redick is not concerned by this.
He thinks, if anything, the Lakers have more of a health and availability problem than a depth one. But he is not concerned with making this work as he sees the Lakers having plenty of contributors when health issues do eventually arise.
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