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Dalton Knecht

Lakers Must Figure Out How To Start Hot Shooting Rookie Dalton Knecht

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Red hot rookie Dalton Knecht has played and shot so well since replacing injured Rui Hachimura in the Lakers’ starting lineup that head coach JJ Redick is going to have a hard time keeping him out of the starting lineup.

In the three games he started in place of Hachimura, Knecht averaged 26.0 points and 5.0 rebounds while making 16 of his 26 threes for a 61.5% shooting percentage from deep on a volume of 8.7 attempts per game. Knecht also showed everybody that his game is not just limited to volume 3-point attempts. During these three games, Dalton also averaged 1.0 steals and 0 turnovers despite posting a team 3rd best solid 20.3% usage rate.

While Hachimura has played and shot well as a starter, Dalton brings a juggernaut level of firepower to the starting lineup that the Lakers simply have never had and which catapults their starting lineup to another level.
Knecht not only showed he could hold his own as a starter but also proved he was exactly the type of elite high volume 3-point shooter the Lakers have desperately needed to complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

With their other volume 3-point shooter D’Angelo Russell moving to the bench, the Lakers would be smart to keep Dalton Knecht in the starting lineup to provide the volume 3-point shooting Russell used to provide.
The Lakers fully understand what they have in Knecht and know their major development priority should be to keep him in the starting lineup to accelerate his development and take best advantage of his great skillset.

The Lakers’ challenge in keeping Dalton Knecht in the starting lineup is what position does he play, who starts with him in the backcourt, and what other starting lineup changes should Lakers make to optimize the rookie?

5 Things: Lakers Finding A Way

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While we’re still in the “too early to form a concrete opinion” stage of the season, there are some trends in the Lakers play we can identify and analyze. Ball movement, offensive flow: good. Defensive intensity and rebounding: mediocre, especially on the break where it gets downright bad. Let’s take a look at some of the ways the Lakers could maybe start to improve on the solid early-season foundation they’ve put down.

  1. Getting buckets. As of this post the Lakers are the #4 ranked offense based on overall offensive rating. In the NBA, “offensive rating” refers to a statistic that measures how many points a team scores per 100 possessions, essentially representing their offensive efficiency over the course of a game; a higher offensive rating indicates a more potent offense. The shot profile is balanced, we’re #11 in Assist % (which is pretty solid considering we have 2 elite iso players in AD and LeBron), and we’re improving our assist to turnover ratio by the game (we currently sit at #5) which means we’re maximizing our possessions by not coughing it up but still using the pass effectively, and we’re not addicted to three point shooting nor are we treating it like a toxic asset. We’re #8 in points in the paint which we should be considering that our 2 best players rely on paint points. We’re #9 in scoring in transition. We’re right in my personal sweet spot for three point FGAs at 33.6 and improving on our accuracy from the beginning of the season at 37.4% (making 12.6). In short, when we lose, offense isn’t the problem.
  2. Getting stops. This isn’t quite as rosy of a picture but the good thing is some of this is very fixable. Our net defensive rating (how many points we give up/100 possessions) is bad, we’re 25th in the league and that’s with AD playing at a high level. Most of that stat was based on the first iteration of the starting five which included D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves in the back court. I’d be curious to see what that number looks like with another 5-10 games of Cam Reddish starting in DLO’s place. Swapping Cam for DLO in the starting five has brought balance to both the bench and starting units, balance we sorely need if we want to get to at least middle of the pack defensively. Cam has been ultra solid on D and taken the open shots that come his way on offense without pressing. Early on, when we were a top 5 or so turnover team, we were giving up a lot more fastbreak points and points off of turnovers. We’ve cleaned up the points of TO’s…but we’re second to last in giving up points on the break. In some ways that’s a little more worrisome as it means teams are just running at us and we’re not adjusting very well off of makes or misses. The good thing is we can work on that as a team and get better on getting back. LeBron will not be a part of that effort and, based on his age and usage, this may be the biggest concern for the regular season. Come playoff time, when the game slows down, I expect this to matter a little less. Depending on matchups.
  3. The Knecht Effect. After starting the first 8 or 9 games slowly DK4 has come on like gangbusters and is shooting lights out (last night was awesome against the Jazz). Inserting him into the starting 5 along with Cam has led to some of our best basketball and really opens up the door to a debate about if Rui should go back to starting once he’s available. I think the sample size is too small, it’s early in the season and DK hasn’t really been scouted, yet, so there’s still a lot of unknown factors but it’s certainly a conversation worth having. Starting DK (a rookie) would normally come with some defensive ability questions but, while he won’t be in any kind of NBA All Defense convos he can hold his own because he moves his feet rather than reaches. That in and of itself is huge. Add that a willingness to crash the glass at least as much as Rui does and you have a pretty nice problem for the coaches to unravel. I think that DK is probably the better shooter in that his release is quicker and he’s not shy about putting it up but both are efficient and you get a better iso/post player in Hachimura. Ideally a 2nd unit of Hachimura and DLO would be the way to go as that opens up a lot of options to run through both those guys whose overall skill sets are wasted a little bit as starters with our current roster composition. Both DLO and Rui can get their own shots in a variety of ways, strengths that augment the team more if Cam (or possibly Vando when he’s ready) and DK4 can serve as role-players in the starting five. The fact that Dalton has made this into a conversation is awesome.
  4. The factor that affects everything and every team: injuries. With Wood, Hayes, Rui and Vando out one would expect the lakers to be at a disadvantage. Instead we’ve gone on a 6 game winning streak since our disastrous road trip. Getting those guys back is important and will ultimately make the Lakers better. Since they’re out it’s opened the door for more playing time and a starting spot for Cam and DK4 which has been a revelation on both ends of the court for the reasons above and also opened up some PT for Koloko. I like his energy and he competes well but there’s no denying this guy is both raw and rusty. I don’t need him to shoot threes, either, get good at the three things you need to be good at: rim protection, rebounding and screening. Do those well and you open a lot of doors for the team and us to feel more confident about potentially trading Hayes at some point. Other than that it’s been nice to see LBJ playing in every game so far and to see AD managing his five falls/game and eye injury well.
  5. Wish the Emirates Cup was a little later in the season. We’re undefeated in Cup games dating back to it’s inception. Need more of ’em lol.

5 Things: Lakers Fall Flat and Get Rolled

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Nothing to learn from this other than how to move on from a bad loss. The Phoenix game, even though we coughed up a late lead, felt competitive. This game never did as the Cavs got what they wanted, when they wanted, and how they wanted it. There was not much resistance offered from the Lakers even though we got down big early, again, and had shown that steady approach to coming back works. Whether it’s some guys still finding their legs, the early and lengthy road trip or just that the Cavs are that much better we never really were in this game after the first few minutes.

  1. The Lakers defense ain’t great. We’re giving up 50.8 points in the paint per game so far. That’s, in part, being fueled by our league worst transition defense which gives up 21.2 ppg (the only team in the Association to give up more than 20). Our transition defense is non-existent. In specific, switching everything (or 1-4 when AD’s man happens to be in the paint) every time is both predictable and easily exploitable, as we’ve now seen with our own eyes against quality opponents. The seams it creates are letting guys get to the rim and score. That leads to softer switches that offer more room and then guys shoot the three over us. The physicality we saw in the first 3 games didn’t make the road trip, as can be seen by the vast free throw disparity last night in which Cleveland shot well from everywhere (57.7% overall, 41.5% from three) while only getting to the line 8 times compared to our 33. When you win the free throw battle by that much, one generally expects a W. If we stick with switching 1-4 we need to stay attached better to both players (screener and ball handler) and I’ll take an uptick in fouls called if that’s what it takes. Laying back off the screens like a bunch of softies is just creating quality shots for the other team and isn’t working at all. This was, and remains, my biggest concern with Reddick as a head coach, and so I’m curious to see what changes. If anything does.
  2. Lakers back court needs to be better. Mainly DLo but Reaves needs to be in attack mode at all times, too. Reaves should be in the conversation of “whose team” this is almost as much as AD because he’s more of an initiator of the offense. Shooting the ball a measly 6 (Reaves) and 7 (Russell) times, respectively, means there isn’t enough pressure being applied; although in D’Angelo’s case he did get to the line 7 times when his 3 ball wasn’t (still) falling. There’s not a great option to turn to after those 2 guys so they need to get it done night in and night out a lot better and consistently than they’ve done so far. They look good in wins, bad in losses and as they go so, too, does the Lakers fortunes.
  3. Bronny got his first NBA hoop. Yay.
  4. The Lakers bench needs to do more. Like…a lot more. The Net Rating for the Lakers bench is -4.7 and would be a lot worse without Dalton Knecht. This difference isn’t because they’re letting the other team score at will, the Lakers bench has the 6th best defensive rating in the league. We’re middle of the pack in scoring the rock but lead the league in pace (the bench, not the team overall). It may be worth exploring the idea of slowing it down a bit since we’re killing it in transition, anyhow. At any rate our myopic scoring output is a huge issue as we move further into the season. I expect Knecht to hit the rookie wall at some point (they all do) and other than him nobody is scoring effectively yet. Vando getting minutes over Christie and Hayes could help alleviate that but that isn’t the current reality. Somebody besides Knecht needs to contribute and if you move him to the starting 5 I worry the bench will fall utterly off a cliff.
  5. Good news! It’s still early and the road trip is still salvageable. Win in Toronto. That needs to be the focus. Don’t worry about anything else but executing and getting the W in Canada and then focus on Detroit followed by voting (VOTE!) and then Memphis. Just focus on taking care of the business in front of you. All the history is out of the way now, the team has shown it’s good enough to compete at a high level when fully engaged on a physical level, so make that the priority. If you’re competing at a high level, playing as hard and focused as you can, then good things usually generate themselves. Don’t let the losing define the road trip or when you come back it’ll be harder to find that home mojo, again, and no team worth it’s salt is only good at home. Need to be able to win on the road and win consistently. You also don’t want to tumble down the standings early, we’ve all seen how that affects the late season race to getting favorable playoff placement and it’s not fun. We’re still a top 6 team, just need to go out and play lie one, again.

5 Things: Lakers Drop 1st Game of the Season

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A lot went right in the loss but just enough went wrong that the Lakers were unable to hold two solid leads built up over the course of the game down the stretch. Credit to Phoenix for making shots and staying aggressive for all 48. I’m chalking this one up to “learning how to win on the road” in the schemes and with younger guys and rookies taking a more prominent role but we’re digging in on this one all the same.

  1. Lakers bench got thoroughly outplayed. The bench of the Lakers mustered 8 points and the whole group was outplayed by Royce O’Neal all on his own. Plumlee owned Hayes, too as Jaxson barely got 4 boards in his 13 minutes. Some of that was some good rotational choices made by Coach Bud who dropped Nurkic down to bench minutes territory with just 15 minutes (down from 18 the last time we played) in favor of 23 minutes for Plumlee (up from 19) but it was Royce O’Neal whom the Lakers really didn’t seem to ever adapt to his energy and activity. He hit big shots when our defense seemed designed to stop the “name” players. That’s a learnable lesson because, at this level, anyone can beat you on any given night. In the end we need more than 3 points from Gabe and 5 from Max. DK registered his first donut, along with Hayes, so lot’s for that group to take away mand grow from.
  2. Not enough points in the paint. 42 points (same as Phoenix scored and a lot of their came in transition) won’t get it done, especially on the road. We shot the 3 ball well (43.8%), and a lot…for us… (32), but it didn’t matter as it wasn’t enough to overcome Phoenix’s overall efficiency (46% for the game). On the road you need to lean in even more to your strengths and, for this Laker team, that’s AD in the paint. AD only got 5 FGA’s in the 4th quarter compared to 10 in the first. That doesn’t work for us. That’s another adjustment the staff can look to implement in the next film session: keep AD involved through 4 quarters and have him continue to set the tone in the paint.
  3. LeBron sick game. Bummer, but it happens and he played but he didn’t play well. So it goes.
  4. The question of Max Christie playing over either Knecht or Reddish. Max Christie, whether it’s deserved or not, is going to be one of the season-defining storylines this season. Can he play up to his new deal? The 4 year $32 million ($8 mil/season with a player option in 2027-28….VERY player friendly, overall) was offered relatively quickly when free agency hit. That money could have been used in other ways, we could have let the market dictate his value and matched another offer (or not) or we could have offered him less and see what came back. Maybe shades of Caruso vastly outplaying THT was dancing through Rob’s head and maybe the Lakers really see something in the guy that simply hasn’t manifested in an NBA game, yet. Regardless with players like Knecht in the waiting now, not to mention bigger/faster options in Reddish and eventually Jarred Vanderbilt, it’s a worthy debate to have. I like that they’re giving the kid a shot and this is certainly the best time to do that. The length of the experiment is all that I’m questioning right now and also whether or not Knecht has already earned a bigger role. I’m still undecided but leaning towards more DK.
  5. Christian Koloko is NOW cleared to play. Not last weekend, like Tom insisted was true repeatedly and vehemently on our podcast (and was also flat wrong about it), but today. Now, well, now we wait some more. Dude hasn’t played hoops in over a year so he’ll have plenty of ramping up ahead of him. He’s on an NBA two-way deal and so, as of this moment, can only play in 50 total games and not in the playoffs at all. Everything about this looks like he’s a project player to me but we’ll see what he manages to accomplish this season. One way or the other the Lakers are smart to swap a guy like Koloko who has the potential of NBA bonafide’s over Colin Castleton who never really looked like an NBA player. Expected impact this season: negligible.

Roady continues tomorrow night against in Cleveland. I expect Bronny to get a 5 minute burn or so for the sake of playing in Cleveland but maybe not. Hope LBJ starts to feel better because we need his impact.

5 Things: Back-to-Back Wins Show Us All Something Good

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It can be easy to look too far ahead in life. To project into the future may may or may not occur. In the case of being a fan of the Lakers it’s almost easier to look back and see all that could have gone better, or in some cases, worse. When it comes to the start of the 2024-25 season I have, thus far, resisted the urge to define what this Lakers team will look like and prioritize. Too many variables left unaccounted for over the summer. Sure, we brought back the same roster, but folks tend to forget that Vincent and Vando barely played, Rui wasn’t available for the first month or so with a calf strain and then again for a couple weeks when he had the nasal fracture. The piling on Darvin Ham started early and didn’t really let up due both to his roster indecisiveness and some curios in-game choices that led to losses. New coaching blood was brought in, along with a couple rookies, and so everyone seemed to expect a sort of repeat from last season. That narrative ignores a lot of facts and when those are taken into account it’s not as surprising we’re not having de ja vu this season but getting a fresher, more exciting outcome.

  1. The emergence of Anthony Davis. It’s not often you see a player take a step forward this late in their career. I can honestly say I have never seen AD this dominant, confident and forceful in his play. Nothing tangible has changed much; looking at his shot chart it’s the same batch of AD type shots he’s always taken. What’s changed is both his demeanor (pissed off and hungry for respect he feels is lacking) and the team’s focus on getting him the ball early and not just on post ups. If you watch the best all around centers (Jokic and Sabonis) they get the ball above the free throw line out to the three point line and make reads off of that. They function in spots Kobe used to operate from and then, when he had the perfect Robin to his Bat Man in Pau Gasol, he ceded those spots to the Big Spaniard in favor of letting him generate easy offense in the half court. That never meant the iso game went away, it was simply relied upon a lot less and the team benefitted from it instantly. So, too, has this change elevated the laker offense as a whole. Gone are the muddy possessions where two or three players are operating out of the elbows, the corner and the arc three point line. That allowed the defense to load up on AD more and cut off driving lanes. These sets, to me, look vaguely like old triangle sets. AD at the elbow up to the three point line, a single shooter stationed down in the corner and another player moving through space creating the angled set of the same name: a triangle. I’ll get more into this idea down yonder but this kind of action has allowed AD to score, make a play for others and elevate the entire team in the doing.
  2. LeBron still LeBron. I kinda started to wonder…was this what he was going to look like all season? Under 20 ppg, decent impact, solid all around play, but markedly less impact than hoped for but we were winning so who cares? Cue Saturday night and a dominant 4th quarter run that put the Lakers firmly in the driver’s seat to close out the win. It’s good to know that the ultimate safety valve can still dial it up when needed. I also liked his post game comments about not needing to do that all game because we’re a team. It’s that camaraderie that we’ll need more of when the games get harder, possibly as soon as tonight on the road, to help weather storms and bumpy patches.
  3. Using the rookie right. Dalton Knecht is being used in the exact right way. He’s playing about 7-8 minutes/half and not generally in crunch time moments allowing him to both build up stamina (and hopefully avoid a rookie wall later in the season) and build up his confidence at the same time, although watching him play makes me think he doesn’t really lack for confidence. Still I’d rather see him continue in this way with a really specific role for the young man and let him grow into his talent rather than trying to rush things along because he’s had a nice stretch of play. Being the microwave scorer off the bench while playing a steady game in this role is the perfect way to incubate a rookie who you don’t necessarily need to rely on consistently just yet.
  4. The struggles of Max Christie. It’s not that he’s playing poorly, he’s making the right play in front of him, for the most part, and not forcing anything. It’s just that he won’t have a role when Vando comes back which will hopefully be before Thanksgiving. Max is too light to guard the bigger NBA players he often gets switched onto in our defensive schemes, isn’t aggressive enough (or frankly good enough) to be a microwave scorer, and generally looks like he’s topped out his skill set and talent at this point out there. Yes, I know we gave him a big deal early in free agency (and have often wondered why) but when Jarred returns there won’t be a role for him and even Hayes’ minutes could suffer a bit based on matchups. On the upcoming road trip I see two games where Max’s minutes will probably go to Bronny: in Cleveland for a Father/Son homecoming of sorts and maybe in Detroit if Max continues to have a willowy impact. Bronny could also see some action on the back-to-back in Toronto and let Vincent rest a game on the bench. Back to Max, he needs to find a higher level of aggression. I don’t need him to be the next Lou Williams but his presence needs to be felt and too often it simply is not.
  5. Coach Reddick pushing the right buttons so far. The honeymoon continues and the wins keep coming so what’s not to like? The rotations, mainly due to good health this season so far, have looked better. The biggest add has been off ball activity from our guards and wings from the corner spots. The defense has showed us some different looks and it will be interesting to see what ole Vando has/gets when he comes back. But, for me, the overall movement on offense and quick decisions we’re seeing are what’s setting Coach Reddick apart from his predecessor. As illustrated above, we’re seeing some triangle 101 type action to create movement and flow. This opens up backdoor cuts, defensive indecision which allows for quick scores, and a general “share the wealth” vibe which behooves great basketball. A lot fewer iso sets is always welcome, in my opinion. Not forcing threes because it’s 2024 and there’s only one way that everyone thinks basketball need be played now is always welcome. Enabling guys like Reaves and AD to make plays for others so the burden shifts away from LeBron having to do everything or relying on DLo to go off. This style of hoops has opened up Rui and Reave’s games a lot and here’s hoping this is the new status quo.

Next up, a 5 game roadie starts tonight in Phoenix who likely would like to whup us pretty good. Great test of all the principles outlined above and here’s hoping we keep the good times rolling.