'Knecht is obliterating the SEC': The Athletic moves Dalton Knecht into top ten in NBA mock draft
Dalton Knecht’s climb in NBA mock drafts continues, with The Athletic this week moving Tennessee’s star transfer wing all the way up to the No. 10 overall pick to the Atlanta Hawks.
The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie wrote on Tuesday that NBA scouts currently view Knecht somewhere between the No. 10 and No. 20 picks in the NBA Draft and added that he’s “not sure we’re recognizing the extent to which Knecht is obliterating the SEC.”
“He’s scoring at a staggering pace for this level,” Vecenie wrote. “In his 12 SEC games so far, Knecht is averaging 25 points while shooting 50.2 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from 3. He’s grabbing 5.3 rebounds and dishing out 2.3 assists. For the season, he’s averaging 20.1 points per game on 48 percent from the field, but those stats are dragged down by a stretch where he played at less than 100 percent following an ankle injury at North Carolina.
“If you remove those games, Knecht is averaging nearly 25 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists, which would make him a clear All-American. He should be, regardless.”
Dalton Knecht has scored 20 or more points nine times in 13 SEC games
Knecht’s latest heroics came Tuesday night at Missouri, where he scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and sparked No. 5 Tennessee in the comeback win, going from down seven points to up by as many as 13 on the way to a 72-67 win at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
He has scored 20 or more points nine times in 13 SEC games and has scored 30 or more points four times, with a season-high 39 against Florida, 36 at Georgia, 32 at Vanderbilt and 31 against South Carolina. He also scored 24 at Wisconsin and 37 at North Carolina back in November.
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The 17 points he scored at Missouri on Tuesday went with 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. He started the game 0-for-8 from the field but made six shots over a span of five minutes in the second half to rally the Vols. His full arsenal was on display as he went off, scoring at the rim, hitting from midrange and splashing three 3-pointers.
‘Everything he does offensive should translate to NBA settings’
“Everything he does offensively should translate to NBA settings,” Vececnie said. “He is a terrific shooter but is also a high-end athlete who can sky in transition and finish inside using legitimate hang time in the air.”
The growth Kencht is going to have to show, though, is on the defensive end.
“The issues come on defense,” Vecenie wrote. “Knecht is rough around the edges on that end and consistently makes errors that lead to problems for Tennessee. But I tend to buy into these late bloomers, especially those who can really shoot and possess legitimate NBA athleticism.”
