After a brief but notable fall from the lottery, Tennessee wing Dalton Knecht was signed by a team that could definitely use his scoring versatility. The Los Angeles Lakers took Knecht with the No. 17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, acquiring an accurate shooter who will play alongside LeBron James next season.
Knecht has taken a highly unconventional path to the NBA. After high school, he began his career at Northeastern Junior College and Northern Colorado before landing at Tennessee last season. When he joined the Volunteers, he developed into one of the best scorers in the country, leading the team to a 27-9 record and being voted the widely recognized SEC Player of the Year.
Now the North Dakota native – and one of the best offensive weapons in the draft – is moving to Hollywood.
“We never imagined there would be such a talented player (at 17) that would fit our needs perfectly,” said Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, who pointed out that Knecht is among the top 10 prospects on the franchise’s draft list.
Knecht’s offensive skills will be immediately valuable in LA. He averaged 21.7 points last season in Tennessee and hit nearly 40% of his high-frequency 3-pointers. That will prove to be a boon for the Lakers as JJ Redick looks to build an offense that emphasizes the long ball more than it did under Darvin Ham and Frank Vogel.
So why did Knecht, who was often ridiculed during the lottery, end up at No. 17? The simplest explanation is age, as Knecht entered the draft at just 23 years old.
Teams typically prefer to sign younger players through the lottery, believing they have more room to develop and more time in their careers. However, the Lakers are a team with immediate win ambitions; they haven’t had to focus as much on long-term benefits. LA is just happy to sign a young, cheap player who can contribute right away alongside James.
Knecht is also a relatively weak defender and at 6’5″ he’s not quite as tall as you’d want for a forward. The Lakers may have problems on the perimeter defense, but with Anthony Davis at the basket they can afford to give players who play on offense a chance.
With the signing of Redick a week ago, the Lakers ushered in a new era. Since then, the team’s message has been the importance of player development. For years, Los Angeles traded away draft picks to get short-term deals with LeBron and AD. But now, with James turning 40 and Davis entering the final years of his prime, the Lakers are starting to plan for what comes next.
This starts with the signing of players like Knecht.
Fortunately, the Lakers are one of the better drafting teams in basketball outside of the lottery. Over the past decade, they have identified Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Ivica Zubac and Larry Nance Jr. in the middle of the boards and turned undrafted players like Alex Caruso and Austin Reaves into valuable NBA players. The Lakers typically don’t have many picks available, but keeping a player in their system for multiple years often turns them into consistent performers.
On paper, Knecht is a perfect fit for the Lakers. For more than two decades, shooters have thrived when playing against James. He may have slipped further than he had hoped, but things seem to have turned out for the better, as Knecht lands on a team that is optimally prepared for him from the start.
