Dalton Knecht Reflects On His Rookie Season In The Nba

At a time when the Los Angeles Lakers needed a stroke of good fortune, they got some in last year's NBA draft in the form of Dalton Knecht, the University of Tennessee sharpshooter they took with the No. 17 pick. Many expected Knecht to be one of the first 10 players taken, and when he was still available at No. 17, it was a no-brainer decision for the Lakers.

He dealt with an up-and-down rookie season, during which he was in and out of the rotation and almost left the team. He was included in that attempted trade for Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams that was rescinded when Williams failed his physical.

After Los Angeles was knocked out of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves, Knecht reflected on his first season in the NBA.

Via Lakers Nation:

“Anything can happen,” Knecht said of what his first season taught him. “Got traded, came back. Just lucky I got good vets around me. Started with AD (Anthony Davis), DLo (D'Angelo Russell) and all those guys, Bron (LeBron James), and obviously Vando (Jarred Vanderbilt) and AR (Austin Reaves) throughout the whole year, then Keef (Markieff Morris). So I had a lot of good vets in my corner to just learn from them as much as I could. Yeah, crazy year.”

The team's roster was a lot different during the first two months of the season than it was during the final few months, and at various times of the season, Knecht looked like two different players. In November, he started to show his potential by averaging 13.6 points a game on 50.7% from the field and 46% from 3-point range before going into a deep funk.

The Lakers then traded for forward Dorian Finney-Smith in late December and superstar Luka Doncic in early February. Knecht perked up again in March when he made 42% of his 3-point attempts before falling out of the rotation near the end of the season.

He said he learned one thing in particular, especially from James.

“I’d say probably just recovering my body, the most. I watched [James] all the time, watching him come in after his workouts, even before. How he recovers and preps,” Knecht said.

Knecht will no doubt see his name come up in trade rumors over the next handful of weeks. But if he remains with the Lakers, he will give them a potent 3-point shooter who can also score from all three levels, as well as get out in transition and finish strong at the rim.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Dalton Knecht reflects on his rookie season in the NBA