Dalton Knecht was the biggest steal of the 2024 NBA Draft, and the Los Angeles Lakers are actually doing 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. His nine 3-pointers tied an NBA single-game rookie record, matching similar nights by Keyonte George, Yogi Ferrell and Rodrigue Beaubois,
Notably, all three of those newcomers released 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 lift after one of those 3-pointers.
You’d be forgiven if the Lakers’ preseason coverage led you to believe that Bronny James was the Lakers’ most important rookie, but Knecht was and certainly still is the bigger building block for the team’s future.
He really never should have 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 may have turned teams off. It’s easy to believe that a teenager can become a star, much less for a guy two years after his first legal drink.
The Lakers had no such concerns about potential, they just wanted a player who would make them better this season.
Knecht was perfect 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 since the cap space-strapped Lakers couldn’t add any impact players in free agency or through 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.
