It’s no secret the Los Angeles Lakers are up against the clock.
Despite LeBron James’ most recent heroics — leading Team USA to another championship at the Olympics alongside Steph Curry — the four-time champ’s age is still looming over his NBA career. At 39-years-old, he’s managed to keep up his all-world production, but he’ll unquestionably see some sort of falloff a few years from now, or retire altogether.
With that on the distant horizon, it makes the Lakers’ pursuits next season all the more important. And more specifically, it puts some pressure on the newbies to make an immediate impact, starting with rookie Dalton Knecht.
At the 2024 NBA Draft, the Tennessee Volunteer was one of the night’s biggest sliders, eventually ending up in Los Angeles via the No. 17 pick. His talents as a scorer and shooter were widely known, but his old age caused a few teams to go in other directions.
Collegiately, Knecht thrived, averaging 21.7 points on 46% shooting overall and 40% 3-point shooting in his final season. He saw a nice mix of both on and off-ball scoring, handling the ball in moderation, using his elite pull-up jump-shooting in both areas and wrapping everything up with his athleticism. Suffice it to say, Knecht is a match made in heaven for the ball-dominant Lakers roster.
Still, rookies aren’t necessarily known for making an immediate impact.
There’s a few things working in Knecht’s favor, though. His age of 23 isn’t typically a draft plus, but in his rookie season, the added basketball experience will be well worth it. We’ve also seen rookies help to make immediate impacts more recently. Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Dereck Lively II last year were just a few examples of youngsters who plugged in solidly.
If Knecht can be a net positive while on-court in limited minutes for the Lakers this upcoming season, it would help Los Angeles return to true contention, which has evaded them for a few seasons now.