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Lakers rookie guard Dalton Knecht, getting to the basket against San Antonio’s Julian Champagnie on Friday, shined in two starts this weekend. (Darren Abate / Associated Press)
Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht, still sweaty from the career-high 27 points that helped bury the Pelicans on Saturday night, wanted a minute. His Tennessee Volunteers were driving against Georgia, and as he stared down at his phone, he asked for one more play before he began his postgame interview.
Tennessee committed a penalty and was forced to punt, an opportunity squandered.
Despite being an all-American at the university a year ago, Knecht couldn’t relate. Because when he’s gotten chances, like the one in front of him with the Lakers, he doesn’t move backward.
After Knecht put his phone down, he talked about the confidence the Lakers have in him, about how, after drafting him 17th, they’ve empowered him to let it fly, with coach JJ Redick drawing up specific plays for Knecht to shoot.
“It’s always good to have a coach like that, that’s super confident in you, always wanting you to shoot the ball,” Knecht said. “So when I go out there and I do shoot some crazy shots or something that I shouldn’t be shooting, it’s always good that JJ will have my back.”
Despite the greenest possible light, at least one of his 93 NBA field-goal attempts have had to cross Knecht’s “crazy or something like that” threshold, right?
Read more: LeBron James delivers a pair of ‘silencer’ threes to lift Lakers over Pelicans
“No, not at all,” he said with a grin. “I think every time I shoot the ball, I think it’s a great shot.”
It’s exactly the mindset the Lakers had hoped for.
In Redick’s first official act as Lakers head coach, the team prepped for the NBA draft, a group of players including Tristan Da Silva and Yves Missi the likely targets for the Lakers, according to people with knowledge of the plans.
Yet Knecht, projected by some to be taken inside the top five, found himself in a draft-night freefall. Concerns about his age (he’s 23) and his ability to execute NBA defensive concepts were pushing him down the board and, suddenly, right…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lakers-rookie-dalton-knecht-taking-222019723.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-11-17 22:20:00
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