Dalton Knecht has had quite the interesting start to his NBA career. Entering his sophomore campaign, the sharpshooter out of Northeastern Junior College has been traded to the Hornets, traded back to the Lakers, and now has reports swirling around his trade value deteriorating.
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Amid rumors of his departure from Lakerland however, head coach JJ Redick has stood up for him. He has done this in the past too, as any good bench boss would.
“We feel like he’s a guy who can help us win a game in the playoffs. Maybe multiple games,” said JJ six months ago. While only got four minutes of Playoff action last year, the sentiment was still nice from Redick.
Fast-forward to present day and Knecht seems to have found himself in JJ and his coaching staff’s good graces once more. Redick has reported that Dalton has not only scored 42 more points than any other Lakers in live practice but is doing so on a 60% shooting clip.
Granted, Luka Doncic and LeBron James have yet to practice. Though, this doesn’t tarnish this accomplishment of Dalton’s all too much considering the talent on the purple and gold.
While this is an incredible report to come out of the Lakers’ training camp, some fans are skeptical about the true intentions behind its release.
The reasoning for this is due to another report that’s been making the rounds regarding Dalton’s trade value. “But even as Knecht was scoring, scouts around the NBA couldn’t ignore the holes in his game, particularly on the defensive end,” said Dan Woike of the Athletic.
Coincidentally, JJ implied the same when he said that Knecht’s ceiling is up to his defensive prowess. Fans have now combined the low trade value angle with JJ’s recent comments and have begun to churn the trade rumor mill.
“Trying to talk him up for that trade that’s coming,” wrote one fan. Another said, “Good stuff JJ get that trade value up.”
Whether there’s any validity to this remains to be seen. It should be noted that some scouts believe Knecht would fetch a mere second round pick at his current value which is awfully low regardless of how mediocre his defense has been.
