Again within the 2017 NBA Draft, the purple and gold took Lonzo Ball in No. 2 as a consensus All-American, and final night time did the identical however with Dalton Knecht with the seventeenth general choice. Straight out of Tennessee, the participant’s arrival has excited each coaches and executives in Los Angeles, as Rob Pelinka believes this was their greatest consequence.
“In my thoughts, there isn’t a method a participant like this might be out there for us to select on draft night time,” mentioned the Lakers vice chairman of basketball operations and common supervisor. “Throughout the board, simply couldn’t be happier.”
The 23-year-old, who averaged 21.7 factors on 49.9% capturing and 39.7% from the deep, is clearly a menace from vary. After his lone marketing campaign with the Volunteers, he shortly jumped to schools in Colorado and eventually Tennessee this March, when he led them to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Match.
OFFICIAL: Welcome to the Purple & Gold household Dalton Knecht! pic.twitter.com/IppO0fMMIh
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) June 27, 2024
Many believed him to change into a high 10 decide, particularly after he scored 37 factors in an elimination loss to No. 1-seeded Purdue three months in the past, however by some means managed to go undrafted all the best way into the Lakers’ arms. “If we’d have had the tenth decide within the draft, we’d have taken him,” Pelinka mentioned. “So, to get that worth at 17 is basically extraordinary.”
Knecht later revealed that being snubbed off the highest 10 by some means symbolises his basketball profession. “Each time I contact a basketball or stroll right into a health club, I all the time really feel like I received one thing to show; and it doesn’t matter the place I’m at, it’s all the time going to be there and have that chip on my shoulder for feeling like I’ve been underrated my entire life,” he mentioned after being drafted. “So, it’s going to be one thing that I’ll carry with me for the remainder of my profession.”
Pelinka went on to say that Dalton’s expertise as a motion shooter even remind him of JJ Redick as a participant. The final supervisor then revealed that the brand new Lakers coach was already drawing whiteboards within the draft room with Knecht’s title on it.
“That’s actually thrilling,” the rising star mentioned about Redick’s response. “At Tennessee, I watched a number of JJ Redick with Coach [Rick] Barnes and simply the best way he strikes and paces himself and was capable of create house. So, listening to that, it’s actually thrilling, and it’s going to be actual particular.”
After the draft ceremony, Dalton was nonetheless in disbelief he could be sharing the courtroom with LeBron James and Anthony Davis
Again in April, LeBron James talked about Knecht’s title whereas discussing the recognition of girls’s school basketball, explaining that it’s the participant’s uncooked expertise that brings folks to the arenas and will increase viewership.
“We watched that Purdue-Tennessee recreation due to Zach Edey and Knecht,” the celebrity mentioned again then. “Gamers, relying on who they’re, will drive the eye with regards to viewership.”
Dalton later admitted that he couldn’t consider his eyes when he noticed the video. “I do not forget that clip,” he advised reporters. “I awakened and rolled off the bed and I believed it was pretend as a result of tons of individuals had been texting me. I used to be similar to, ‘There’s no method.’ And once I watched that video, it simply introduced a smile to my face. And in addition my dad and mom, they known as me instantly and advised me about it.
“So, that’s simply going to be particular. And it’s going to be enjoyable simply to be sharing that courtroom with each of them, [Anthony Davis] and Bron. Bron’s one of many best. So, it’s going to be actual particular.”
