The Los Angeles Lakers got their first win of the preseason against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night, and while LeBron James and Anthony Davis both played, it was actually Dalton Knecht who played the biggest role. The No. 17 overall pick from the 2024 NBA Draft played a team-high 34 minutes and shot a team-high 16 field goal attempts.
Knecht finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists but struggled from the field. He made only five of his 16 shot attempts. However, he was still the most present figure in L.A.’s first win of the season, and that was by design from JJ Redick and James.
The Lakers rookie spoke about leading the team in shot attempts, saying it was never something he envisioned for himself but got the green light to do so from his superstar teammate, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:
“No, I didn’t think that, but when I was on the sidelines, LeBron was telling me just keep shooting it, he didn’t care what I shoot. Same with JJ, they said they don’t really care what I shoot and just keeping putting them up, keep letting them fly. So I don’t know, that’s my best thing is keep shooting it and letting it fly and play with confidence. So having that is real good.”
If the preseason can serve any major purpose for the Lakers, it’s getting players like Knecht comfortable with being a regular part of the offense before the regular season. It’s very clear he was drafted to be a rotation player for L.A. and he needs to quickly adapt to shooting frequently despite sharing the court with superstars.
It would also benefit the Lakers for him to quickly get up to speed on playing at the NBA level and shooting the ball in NBA arenas. Anything to ensure that he is ready on Opening Night to play a steady workload of minutes.
Dalton Knecht voted among biggest draft steals
Despite being a primarily veteran team, the Lakers do have some promising young players on the roster as well. One of those fell into their laps in the 2024 NBA Draft as SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht, a projected top-10 pick, dropped to the Lakers with the 17th overall pick.
Knecht is an older rookie at 23 years old already meaning he should be ready to contribute right away and he has already shown that he could do just that with an impressive Summer League as well as looking comfortable in the preseason.
The Lakers seem to have gotten a steal in the draft and the rest of the league thinks the same as in the annual NBA GM Survey, Knecht was among six players who were tied atop the vote for biggest draft steal.
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