The 2024-25 NBA season was stuffed with ups and downs for one Los Angeles Lakers rookie.
Getting drafted to a crew as iconic because the Los Angeles Lakers is a dream come true for any NBA prospect.
Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht fulfilled that dream when the Lakers picked him with the No. 17 general decide within the 2024 NBA Draft.
Knecht emerged as an explosive prospect in his ultimate yr within the NCAA, incomes a consensus AA nod amid different accolades. For what it’s price, DK was off to a terrific begin with the Lakers as nicely.
Having been picked in the midst of the primary spherical, Knecht absolutely has many optimistic elements to his sport. Evidently, many believed the Lakers struck gold with an underrated prospect.
Having a look again at his rookie season, Knecht put himself on the map in November 2024. The then-23-year-old scored 114 factors in a five-game stretch, concurrently climbing the NBA’s Rookie of the Yr ladder.
In reality, he averaged 13.6 factors, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per sport in November 2024, enjoying a stellar 26.4 minutes per sport.
In response to information supplied by Sofascore, Knecht averaged 9.4 factors, 3.1 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per sport whereas capturing 46.5% from the sphere and 35.8% from deep till the NBA Commerce Deadline.
However issues began to go downhill for the terrific prospect after he was dealt to the Charlotte Hornets in a commerce for Mark Williams.
Though the Lakers rescinded the commerce, Knecht’s confidence took a significant hit, and head coach JJ Redick seemingly began dropping belief within the extremely touted rookie.
Knecht’s confidence was expectedly shaken to the core after his return to the Lakers. He finally regained it, because of mentorship from Lakers veterans, however the harm was already achieved.
The Lakers rookie had an abysmal February 2025, averaging simply 5.1 factors, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.4 assists whereas that includes in simply 13.6 minutes per sport.
DK did common 19.2 minutes per sport in March 2025, however his numbers fell to 10.1 factors, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per sport.
Coach Redick as soon as once more lower Knecht’s minutes in April 2025. By the point the 2025 NBA Playoffs began, it turned apparent that Knecht was now not an important a part of Redick’s rotation.
For context, Knecht performed simply two video games within the playoffs for a grand complete of 4 minutes. He averaged simply 2.5 factors and 1.5 rebounds per sport, which isn’t a shock contemplating his restricted publicity.
