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The first round of the 2024 NBA Draft has concluded (the second round is Thursday), and indeed there was more action that just draft prospects hearing their name called on Wednesday. In case you missed it, the New York Knicks have been busy. They did some clever draft work that might’ve gone under the radar between the Mikal Bridges trade and OG Anunoby re-signing.
With that said, franchises changed on Wednesday, and so did a lot of lives. We won’t know the full truth of this night for a while, but we can make some educated guesses as to how this might play out over time. With the caveat that this could all look very different with the benefit of hindsight and with the information we have at our disposal, here are some first-round NBA Draft winners and losers.
For all the talk around whether the Lakers would take Bronny James at No. 17, they had no idea that Dalton Knecht, the SEC player of the Year who was universally projected to go inside the top 10, would fall that far. But he did. And the Lakers, who have needed to address their shooting for basically the entire tenure of LeBron James, ended up with probably the best shooter in the draft.
CBS Sports Analysis …
This is an absolute no-brainer, someone whom I would have taken in the top seven. Big time scorer, big time shot-maker. He’s not just a shooter, but he can run off screens and be a primary domino and unlock playbooks. For JJ Redick, a shooter himself, I like the coach-player fit because Redick will know how to use him. Grade: A+
Loser: Dalton Knecht
This is a tough call to make because in many ways this couldn’t have worked out better for Knecht, who, rather than ending up on the Hornets or the Blazers, gets to cut his NBA teeth as a likely rotation player for a Lakers team with eyes on competing for a title. A rookie shooter taking passes from LeBron James and instruction from one of the best shooters and off-ball movers in history in JJ Redick? It’s a dream.
What’s not a dream is potentially losing in the neighborhood of $16 million — the difference in slotted…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/2024-nba-draft-winners-and-losers-lakers-land-steal-in-dalton-knecht-knicks-get-clever-spurs-pile-up-assets/
Author : Brad Botkin
Publish date : 2024-06-27 05:47:56
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