NBA Preseason games tipped off on Friday night as the Lakers went to battle with the Timberwolves. Former Tennessee superstar Dalton Knecht tied with Austin Reaves for the most points in the game for the Lakers with 16 points. Knecht finished with a stat line of 16 points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block.
Since it was the first preseason contest of the season and the 2024 Olympics happened over the summer, stars LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Anthony Edwards did not play. This gave other starters, role players, and rookies an increased opportunity. In the Lakers matchup against the Timberwolves, there were three rookie first-round draft picks Rob Dillingham (#8 pick, Kentucky), Dalton Knecht (#17 pick, Tennessee), and Terrence Shannon Jr (#27 pick, Illinois) took the floor.
Knecht scored in a variety of ways, but the majority of his points came from actions involving him off the ball, either moving or coming off of a screen rather than creating his own shot.
Knecht scored his first pair of points by curling a screen at the top of the key, then getting to his spot and nailing a one-dribble pullup over 7’1 center Rudy Gobert who was too deep in the paint after switching the screen.
No. 17 pick Dalton Knecht hits the midrange J for his first bucket!
📺 MIN-LAL #NBAPreseason on NBA TV pic.twitter.com/zZJzLPsqDj
— NBA (@NBA) October 5, 2024
For his second basket, Knecht caught, froze closing out defender Naz Reid with a pump-fake, then drove and finished a contested layup. With less than a minute to go, Knecht showed his defensive ability, getting his lone block of the game. Many teams see Knecht as a defensive liability and someone to attack on defense. Knecht answered the challenge as the Timberwolves put him in multiple switches before blocking Nickeil Alexander-Walker on a driving finish.
Dalton Knecht was a prospect known for what he could do on the offensive side of the ball. But at 6’6 with a 6’9 wingspan, he has the frame to be competent defensively.
Check out this nice defensive possession from Knecht where he makes multiple switches & finishes with a block. pic.twitter.com/qpD9YlJZ2C
— Hot Hand Theory (@HotHandTheory) October 5, 2024
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Early in the second quarter, Knecht finished his first dunk of the game in a give-and-go action where he rejected a screen. Knecht passed to Jaxson Hayes before rejecting a D’Angelo Russell screen, opting to back-cut for the catch and flush rather than the handoff from Hayes.
Some promising, but VERY early signs about JJ Redick’s offensive coaching. This play really got me up, beautiful high low action with Jaxson Hayes and Dalton Knecht. pic.twitter.com/R5ZoZJkYJ0
— Sheed on the Hawks (@SheedinATL) October 5, 2024
In the third quarter, Knecht scored all five of his points in transition. The first was a pitch-ahead from Austin Reaves for a layup, and the second was a pitch-ahead transition three from the right wing. The three-point shot cut the Lakers deficit to three.
Max to Knecht for 3 in transition.
Dalton Knecht is the quickest and easiest 10pts w/ very little usage that I’ve seen in a minute.
Put simply-
A Bucket. pic.twitter.com/jOoWO2su8u
— Lakers Legacy (@LakersLegacyPod) October 5, 2024
After a kicked-ball violation by Minnesota, Lakers head coach J.J. Redick looked for Knecht to start the scoring on a sideline out-of-bounds set. Knecht started in the short corner, commonly known as the dunker spot, and set a back-screen for Bronny James Jr. near the left elbow before getting a handoff and rising over two defenders to knock down his second three of the game.
This type of action was brought to many by Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. Kerr has shown to like to utilize a knockdown shooter to set a back-screen to open up a shot. Since the defense has to guard the cut-off of the back-screen they are late to recover to the shooter when they get the ball. This is one action that the Lakers could use often to get Knecht involved. The play can be seen below.
Okay I’ve been biting my tongue because it’s only preseason game number one but, for me, the early returns on JJ Redick have been VERY encouraging. They’ve been running all kinds of interesting sets with tons of off-ball action. Dalton Knecht shows what kind of shooter he can be. pic.twitter.com/WyURiGNTFP
— Hot Hand Theory (@HotHandTheory) October 5, 2024
Knecht’s most impressive highlight of the day came on his last bucket, putting Timberwolves center Jonathan Edwards on a highlight dunk. The play, along with many other Knecht highlights can be seen below.
Dalton Knecht (@DaltonKnecht3) looks to be the STEAL of the draft at No. 17 after his preseason debut with the @Lakers 🤯🔥
16 PTS | 3 REB | 2 AST | 1 BLK | 1 STL
…and this poster 😳 pic.twitter.com/ysseduziTw
— GREENLIGHT MEDIA (@atlgreenlight) October 5, 2024
In a loss for the Lakers, Knecht was a bright spot and provided much for the Lakers fanbase to be excited about. Knecht gives Redick and the Lakers a variety of skills to use in many different spots.
