The first round of the 2024 NBA Draft is set for tonight (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN) at Barclays Center in New York.
And if the majority of the top mock drafts are correct, University of Tennessee All-American Dalton Knecht won’t have to wait long to hear his name called.
The top sports betting apps back that up, with consensus odds strongly favoring a landing spot among the top eight selections for the 2023-24 SEC Player of the Year.
Below we examine the 2024 NBA Draft odds for Dalton Knecht and see where he could possibly land early Wednesday night.
Dalton Knecht 2024 NBA Draft odds: Tennessee standout favored as No. 6 pick
BetMGM Sportsbook, as of Wednesday afternoon, had Knecht as an overwhelming favorite to be selected among the top 10 picks at -800 odds.
He’s the favorite to go No. 6 overall at BetMGM (-110), DraftKings (+100) and FanDuel (-105).
Drafting at No. 6 is Charlotte, who folks at Sports Illustrated predict could come off the bench in his rookie season to spell LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller as he polishes his NBA game to become an NBA starter.
If he slips to No. 7, Portland would gladly add Knecht to their squad, looking to turn around a 61-loss campaign with a solid perimeter and three-point shooter.
DraftKings and BetMGM have both set the over/under on Knecht’s draft position at 7.5 with the under (selected among the top seven picks) solidly favored at both sportsbooks.
At DK as of Wednesday afternoon, under 7.5 for Knecht was priced at -215 with the over at +160.
Meanwhile, at BetMGM, the under carried -225 odds with the over lined at +165.
Dalton Knecht 2024 NBA Draft odds: Shooting guard favored to join exclusive UT club
If the mock drafters and oddsmakers prove prophetic, the 6-foot-6, 205-pound Knecht will become only the fourth top-10 NBA Draft pick produced by the Volunteers.
The others, as chronicled by RTI earlier this week, are:
- Tom Boerwinkle, No. 4 overall, 1968
- Bernard King, No. 7 overall, 1977
- Dale Ellis, No. 9 overall, 1983
Nine other Tennessee players have been selected in the first round of the draft, which was instituted in 1947.
The most recent first rounders of the bunch were Keon Johnson (No. 21 in 2021), Jaden Springer (No. 28 in 2021) and Grant Williams (No. 22 in 2019).
Knecht is coming off a transcendent senior season in which the Northern Colorado transfer averaged an SEC-most 21.7 points per game while shooting 45.8 percent from the field, including 39.7 percent from 3-point range, and averaging 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists.
He had eight games with 30 or more points in powering the Vols to the SEC regular season title and the program’s second-ever NCAA Tournament Elite Eight appearance.
Nine of the 10 mock drafts surveyed in NBA.com‘s consensus mock had Knecht being selected in the top 10, with ESPN, The Athletic and CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone all pegging him to go No. 6 overall to the Charlotte Hornets.
In ESPN’s mock draft, the Thornton, Colo., high school product was the third U.S. collegiate player to come off the board following Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard (No. 3 overall to Houston) and UConn guard Stephon Castle (No. 4 overall to San Antonio).
