ESPN insiders rave about Dalton Knecht, his fit with Lakers

Dalton Knecht slipped outside of the lottery in the NBA Draft, but that may end up working out just fine for him. Knecht fell to the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 17 where he has a chance to be a big part of the rotation right away.

ESPN experts Kendrick Perkins and Tim Legler recently spoke on NBA Today about Knecht and his fit with the Lakers.

“Getting the kid Dalton Knecht at 17, I thought he could’ve been easily top 10,” Perkins said. “Shoutout to one of my great friends Rashad Phillips. He said he reminds him of Dan Majerle the way he’s able to get buckets. He’s not just a shooter. He does a whole lot of other things. And he’s a dog.”

Dalton Knecht was the SEC Player of the Year in 2023-24 after leading Tennessee to the SEC Championship and the Elite 8. He averaged 21.7 points per game last season while shooting nearly 40 percent from 3-point range.

The Lakers will count on Knecht to step in and knock down shots immediately, according to Legler.

“I think this is a home run both ways – for the Lakers and for him. Here’s the thing, the Lakers need a guy that they can plug and play. You don’t have a lot of time to develop a 19-year-old kid when you’ve got LeBron James at this stage in his career,” Legler said. “We need a guy that can get rotational minutes right now. Dalton Knecht can do that. He improves your shooting overnight, they need that. He’s also got bounce. He’s athletic, he’s tough, he’s strong. He can play through contact at the rim.”

Legler added that Knecht won’t be counted on to create his own shot the way he was at Tennessee because the Lakers have other playmakers. But he should still be a big part of the rotation.

The Lakers need to win right away as LeBron James’ career winds down and Knecht should help them do just that.

“He’s going to be a little more limited at the NBA level early, because the usage rate of LeBron, AD and Austin Reeves, he is going to be a little more of a spot up guy,” Legler said. “If that’s the case, who better to learn from than his head coach. JJ Redick learned how to move without the ball to create extra space for yourself – extra time, angles, shooting, catching the ball off dribble handoffs with a lean to your game. All of those things Dalton Knecht didn’t do when he was at Tennessee because he had the ball all the time, now he’s going to be playing off the ball more. Who better to learn from than a guy who made his career doing it? I loved this pick.”