Dalton Knecht reveals key difference between NBA and college
12/31/2024 08:21 PM
LOS ANGELES – Adjusting to the NBA can be challenging for a rookie. In the case of Dalton Knecht, during his rookie season with the Los Angeles Lakers, he’s always seen plenty of ups and downs. Knecht has alternated between the bench and the starting lineup, and he’s currently one of the team’s top reserves.
During the Lakers’ last game, a 132-122 win against the Sacramento Kings, Knecht had one of his best games in recent weeks with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, 2-of-5 from three-point range and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
Following the win, Dalton Knecht spoke about the key difference between the NBA and college as he continues to navigate his rookie season with the Lakers.
“I would say just move on to the next game. There’s a lot of games compared to my schedule last year, I’m already about halfway there pretty much from my college career,” Knecht said. “So just take one game at a time, and good or bad, move on to the next one because I have the next game coming in.”
Knecht has already appeared in 31 games for the Lakers this season. Back during his college days, the most number of games he ever played in was 36 and that was his final year of college basketball at Tennessee.
Dalton Knecht navigating rookie season with Lakers
The No. 18 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the Lakers felt like they got a steal in Knecht due to the fact that he fell out of the lottery. From the get-go, Lakers head coach JJ Redick featured Knecht in the rotation, and he responded well.
When the Lakers went on a six-game win streak from Nov. 8 to Nov. 19, it was Knecht who was crucial during that stretch. At the tail end of the stretch, Knecht dropped back-t0-back career-highs in what were arguably his two best games of the season.
Against the New Orleans Pelicans on Nov. 16, Knecht finished with 27 points, then a career-high, and seven rebounds while shooting 6-of-11 from field and 2-of-4 from three-point range.
He followed that up with a new career-high of 37 points, to go along with five rebounds, while shooting 12-0f-16 from the field and 9-of-12 from the three-point line, against the Utah Jazz on Nov. 19. While he has been one of the Lakers’ best outside shooting threats, Knecht has displayed a much-more well-rounded game when teams have run him off the three-point line.
While early talk of him being in the Rookie of the Year conversation has slowly dwindled, there’s no doubt the Lakers found a solid player for the years to come.
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