One of the reasons Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht was picked at No. 17 in the 2024 NBA Draft was because of concerns about his defense.
Even though he has the size and ability to be a good defender, he wasn’t considered one in college. Some people even compared him to Lakers head coach JJ Redick, a sharpshooter who wasn’t known for being a great defender during his NBA career.
However, in the early part of his rookie season, Knecht is showing that the criticism of his defense might have been exaggerated. He is not an elite defender yet, but he has demonstrated that he can contribute with the skills he already has.
Redick has noticed quick improvement from Knecht on defense. He talked about how Knecht has been getting better and why he believes Knecht can continue to improve on that side of the game.
“I think he’s improving his physicality, both on and off the ball I’ve seen some improvement,” Redick said. “I don’t know how Rick (Barnes) teaches defense in terms of coverages and schemes, whatever coverages and schemes that he ran against me didn’t work… 41 (points). I’m only kidding, I love Rick. I’ve known Rick a long time.
“But I think that’s the biggest part of the learning curve for a rookie is being able to make multiple decisions in a short amount of time during a possession and then going back and doing it again on another possession. It’s hard. It’s hard to pick up the pattern recognition, it’s hard to do.
“But he’s improving there and I shared with you guys that at some point in August or September, I really challenged him to not be a traffic cone and he’s taken on that challenge. He’s trying, the effort is there.
There’s things we can do in the weight room, there’s things we can do in terms of agility. In the long term, I expect him to be a good defender. He’s got the size, he’s got the strength. He definitely has the toughness, competitiveness and length to be that.”
If Knecht can become a solid NBA defender and have a positive impact on that side of the ball, his selection at No. 17 would be even more of a steal. Based on the effort and energy Redick says Knecht puts into his defense, that seems very possible.
This is something to keep an eye on as Knecht’s rookie season continues.
Dalton Knecht still confident despite more attention
While Dalton Knecht seems to have found an offensive rhythm, it also means that defenders are starting to focus more on him to prevent him from getting clean shots from 3-point range.
The most recent example of this was in the game against the Orlando Magic on Saturday, a team known for its strong defense.
Despite Orlando’s size and length, Knecht managed to score 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting and 3-for-7 from 3-point range. He acknowledged that teams are paying more attention to him, but he also said that the Lakers’ offensive execution has helped him get open looks.
“For sure, but I feel like I still got a lot of good looks,” Knecht said. “I think to be honest, every time I shot the ball it was a good look. So my teammates will be looking for me all of the time and JJ will be calling plays and like I said earlier, it’s just executing.”
