The 2024-25 NBA season is just around the corner as the Los Angeles Lakers’ full regular season schedule was recently unveiled.
The Lakers will have their work cut out for them as the Western Conference is absolutely loaded while they are mostly running back the same squad. The only changes to the Lakers’ roster so far has been swapping out Taurean Prince and Spencer Dinwiddie for draft picks Dalton Knecht and Bronny James.
At 23 years of age, the hope is Knecht will be able to contribute right away for the Lakers after falling to them at No. 17 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft. Bronny, on the other hand, was brought in to team up with his dad LeBron James but at just 19-years-old is expected to spend a majority of the season in the G League.
That is reflected in NBA 2K25 as the video game released ratings for all rookies with Knecht coming in at a 70 and James at a 68:
Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht comes in with a player rating 70 overall – Too low? #NBA2K25 pic.twitter.com/vmbfkDeysC
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) August 16, 2024
Lakers rookie guard Bronny James has a player rating of 68 – Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/tKRtsqhdIU
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) August 16, 2024
This NBA Draft class was touted as one of the worst ever, so it comes as no surprise that no one is rated higher than a 75.
An argument can be made that Knecht should be rated higher than a 70, which is tied for 16th-best in the draft class. He flashed his potential during Summer League and appears to be more NBA-ready than some of the guys ranked above him.
NBA 2K25 ratings will changes weekly throughout the course of the season though, which means if Knecht earns a spot in the rotation and impresses early in his rookie season then he should continue to climb the ladder.
The rest of the NBA 2K25 ratings should be released in the coming days and weeks, so it will be interesting to see where other key Lakers players like LeBron, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell land.
Lakers have most nationally televised games during 2024-25 season
Even though the Lakers didn’t make any roster moves this offseason, the league is clearly still very high on them as they have the most nationally televised games during the 2024-25 regular season at 39.
It remains to be seen when Bronny and LeBron James will take the floor together for the first time, but that may be the most-watched moment of the season whenever it happens.
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