Heading into the 2024 NBA Draft, there was talk former Tennessee star Dalton Knecht could be a lottery pick. But as the first round went along Wednesday night, he saw himself falling farther down the board and, eventually, out of the lottery.
Knecht eventually heard his name called as the No. 17 overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers. Although it was later than he might’ve expected, Tennessee coach Rick Barnes thinks it could work out in his favor.
Barnes explained why he thinks the Lakers are a good fit for Knecht, who emerged as one of the nation’s best shooters after transferring to Tennessee this past season. He’ll now get to learn under JJ Redick, which adds to the allure of playing in Los Angeles.
“All’s said and done, I think it’s a great scenario for Dalton,” Barnes said. “He’s excited about it and has a chance to go to one of the greatest franchises in sports history, play with certainly some of the very best players and one of the best of all-time. He’s excited and we’re excited for him.”
Knecht put up impressive numbers in his lone season at Tennessee, averaging 21.7 points and shooting 39.7% from three-point distance after transferring from Northern Colorado. By heading to the Lakers, he’ll now get to learn under Redick – a career 41.5% three-point shooter in the NBA.
Barnes also said he’s looking forward to seeing how Redick develops Knecht. His relationship with the former Duke star goes back to his time at Texas when Redick would come by to work out from time to time.
“I’m really excited for JJ Redick,” Barnes said. “JJ used to work out with us while we were at Texas. He had a home there in Austin and he’d come over. I think he is going to be just an incredible mentor for Dalton
“I watched a lot of tape of JJ with Dalton this year. One thing JJ said, he said that he wanted to really put a big emphasis on player development, which Dalton would be a great guy to have a chance to work under that.”
Rick Barnes on Dalton Knecht’s slide: ‘The draft is oh-so-unpredictable’
In his final mock draft before the first round, On3’s James Fletcher III projected Dalton Knecht to go No. 6 overall to the Charlotte Hornets. But some surprises came along the way on draft night, including when the Hornets selected Tidjane Salaun with that pick instead.
That meant Big Boards across the league started changing, and Rick Barnes said that’s part of the process when those surprises show up. However, he said he spoke with Knecht about that possibility, and it was interesting to see that process unfold before the Lakers selected him.
“The draft is oh-so-unpredictable, and I think going into this, we all talked about it,” Barnes said. “He understood it that he had really good workouts with some teams. Again, some things happened early in the draft. There was a couple guys went that no one expected to go, and it really shuffles everything.
“While we were at the table, it was amazing how many teams were talking to his agents trying to see how they could move up. They’ve got those five-minute segments to do that, and teams that maybe didn’t think they had a shot, trying to get medical records, all those type things. That said, I think it’s a great thing.”
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