Bronny James was maybe the most talked about selection of the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2024 NBA Draft leading up to the new campaign. It’s easy to see why, considering his father LeBron is an NBA legend and current member of the Lakers.
But the younger James clearly hasn’t been the most impactful first-year player for Los Angeles so far in the 2024-25 regular season. That distinction goes to Dalton Knecht, who was drafted with the No. 17 overall pick. Knecht is averaging 11.5 points per game while shooting 45.0 percent from 3-point range.
Former Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett has christened the rookie as the Lakers’ No. 3 option behind only Anthony Davis and the elder James after his recent stretch of impressive play.
“Ain’t no rookie doing what he (Dalton Knecht) doing… West side Knecht.”
Lord the ROY might be a one-man race right now real shyt my dog West side Knecht been DOING it 💯 He look fearless as a rookie Lord I think he’s the number 3 for the Lakers and a big reason for their… pic.twitter.com/AajLRWL7JB
— Kevin Garnett (@KevinGarnett5KG) November 25, 2024
“He the third option in front of Austin Reaves and all that s—,” said Kevin Garnett. “Yeah, I said it, Knecht n—-.”
Few neophytes are scoring the ball at a higher level than Knecht is to this point. He ranks third among all rookies in points per game and second in 3-pointers made per contest.
Knecht was on a lengthy streak of scoring double digits in points recently. For five consecutive contests, he dropped 14-plus points. His best performance of that stint came when he torched the Utah Jazz for 37 points and nine 3-pointers back on Nov. 19 in the most prolific scoring showing of any rookie so far this season.
However, his scoring streak was snapped in the Lakers’ most recent regular-season contest, which came against the Denver Nuggets on Nov. 23. Los Angeles lost that contest by 25 points, and he finished with nine points while shooting 3-of-7 from the floor and an uncharacteristically poor 1-of-4 from deep.
Knecht is far from the only player who underperformed against the Nuggets. Lakers head coach J.J. Redick said his team “stopped playing” in the third period of the contest, and Los Angeles was outscored by more than 30 points across the last 24 minutes of the game alone.
The Lakers and Knecht can rebound from their lackluster showing versus Denver when they play the Phoenix Suns on the road on Tuesday night. The Suns are riding a five-game losing streak at the moment but still sit above the .500 mark on the season at 9-7.
