Dalton Knecht was the biggest steal of the 2024 NBA Draft, and the Los Angeles Lakers are indeed making out like bandits.
In his fourth career start, the guard dropped 37 points on 12-of-16 shooting (9-of-12 from deep) with five rebounds and zero turnovers Tuesday in a 124-118 win over the Utah Jazz. His nine 3-pointers tied an NBA single-game rookie record, matching similar nights from Keyonte George, Yogi Ferrell and Rodrigue Beaubois,
Notably, all three of those rookies posted their historic performances in February or March, after multiple months of seasoning. Knecht made his NBA debut less than a month ago.
That performance included a stretch of 18 straight points scored for the Lakers. He, of course, hit Crypto.com Arena with the Michael Jordan shrug after one of those 3-pointers.
You would be forgiven if the Lakers’ preseason coverage led you to believe Bronny James was the Lakers’ most important rookie, but Knecht was and most certainly still is the bigger building block for the team’s future.
He really shouldn’t have ever made it to Los Angeles in the first place, but that’s how the draft ended up working out. Knecht was widely expected to be a top-10 pick after a breakout season at Tennessee in which he showed next-level scoring ability, especially with his 39.7% 3-point shooting, but his age at 23 years old might have turned teams off. It’s easy to believe a teenager can grow into a star, less so for a guy two years past his first legal drink.
The Lakers had no such worries about potential, they just wanted a player who would make them better this season.
Knecht was a perfect fit for a team always in need of more shooting around LeBron James, but especially after a year in which they ranked 24th in the NBA in 3-pointers made. And because the salary-cap space-strapped Lakers were unable to add any impact players in free agency or via trades, Knecht was their biggest addition of the offseason, player-wise.
So it’s a very good sign for the Lakers that the guy they drafted to make an immediate impact as a shooter just shot his way to 37 points. And it’s no coincidence, perhaps, that the Lakers are off to a 10-4 start with six straight wins.
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