JJ Redick may have found his Lakers avatar in Dalton Knecht
JJ Redick provided a lot of spacing in his NBA playing days and the Lakers first round pick seems to be following his lead in his first season as a head coach of the franchise.
As noted by Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, Lakers are likely "going to lean in the spacing/gravity [that] Dalton Knecht provides" this season.
Very simple set from Lakers, but seems clear they're going to lean into the spacing/gravity Dalton Knecht provides.
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) October 23, 2024
Just a Horns set with an entry pass followed by a hard cut to the rim by Vincent. Once Ant gets clipped, puts a TON of pressure on DDV guarding DK on backside. pic.twitter.com/3RV0KMVHPY
Vecenie pointed this out in the third quarter after seeing that Minnesota Timberwolves Donte DiVincenzo was late to help on the back end of a Horns set as the former Knick was making sure that Knecht was covered from the 3-point line. Knecht may have only scored 5 points in his NBA debut but it's clear that his impact was felt beyond the box score as he provided a necessary flow to the offense
Youth Movement NBA Top Performers 10.22.24
— Nathan Grubel (@DraftDeeper) October 23, 2024
The main NBA rookie to get good minutes last night was Dalton Knecht, and he took advantage. Played within the flow of the offense, executed, even had some nice dishes. A weapon off the bench for the Lakers moving forward. pic.twitter.com/xS9K3UTvB9
Knecht, who played two years at Northern Colorado before transferring to Tennessee prior to last season fell in the draft with defense and lack of potential being a possible reason why. The Lakers who were likely impressed with Knecht's 21.7 points per game on 46 percent shooting in his lone season with Tennessee and drafted him with the 17th overall pick.
As Knecht and the Lakers get ready for their next game against the Suns, it's clear that JJ Redick may have found a look-like to his play as youngster with the wing.
Subscribe to The Whiteboard, FanSided's daily email newsletter on everything basketball. If you like The Whiteboard, share it with a friend! If you don't like The Whiteboard, share it with an enemy.
JJ Redick knows exactly what to do with Dalton Knecht
While it's too early to say if Knecht will be a great role player for the Lakers in his first season, it's clear that the buzz around him is well-founded first-round as the first round pick offers the team another option to use in their rotation. In all reality, a solid rookie season for Knecht would allow Redick and front-office management to focus on upgrading their ball-handling spot this trade deadline.
Although a larger sample size will likely be needed before deciding that Knecht pick was a success, it's clear that the decision to draft him looked good in the Lakers first game of the season.
manual