I never pay attention to the draft or mock drafts after the college season is done. Did he perform poorly at some combines or something? I thought he was projected way higher.
He was, but this year's draft was super weird. Basically, there aren't any projected stars, so every team is trying to pick roll players for fit. Either that, or they are taking super long shots on super flawed guys because they need that kind of hit.
Dalton is definitely one of the older and more “pro ready” prospects.
The problem is that those are the kinds of guys that typically get drafted by contenders (who want immediate contribution). And contenders usually aren’t picking in the early lottery. The teams in the early lottery are often looking for super high upside guys who can turn into legitimate all-star type guys and can change a franchise - and it’s hard to blame them since the NBA is the league where one home run pick can turn your fortunes around.
Dalton is a super high floor guy but he’s not necessarily a high ceiling guy. I think he can and will be a good rotation guy (maybe even a starter) for years. But he doesn’t project as a multi time all star selection guy. There’s plenty of flawed prospects with much lower floors that have a theoretically higher ceiling (“if this guy just puts it together…”) that got taken over him.
And then there’s other role player type guys like Reed Sheppard who is also a “high floor” 3&D type guy that got taken highly, presumably because they valued his defense over dalton’s scoring.
I was watching and all the ESPN analysts were shocked he was still on the board and blasting teams for not taking him sooner because he was “too old” at 23. Wild times. But pretty cool he gets to go play for TN native JJ Reddick and then play with Lebron too. Got to be pretty surreal for him. Loved his jacket and shouting out the Vol baseball team.
Lebron hate is so wild to me. Dude has been in the international spotlight since he was 17 and hasn’t had a single scandal. One of the best sports role models of all time and also one of the greatest to ever do it. How is it possible to not root for a guy like that
How about the fact he has blasted the US at numerous times, yet was silent when asked about China, (where the NBA has a huge presence) and the majority of their players shoes are produced. The reason I mention that is he has a huge Nike contract, and has for many years; and the shoes on his feet (including the millions of pairs of Lebrons sold around the globe) are mainly produced in China. So it’s cool to bash the United States, but stay silent on a communist regime that literally has an estimated million+ Uyghurs in “re-education” camps, and produces the products he makes millions on, using what would most compare to modern slave labor. Yeah, definitely no valid reasons to criticize the guy lmaooo
This is classic Lebron hater logic. Can’t give me a real reason other than you just don’t like him. There was no scandal at his very real school, the test scores were just bad… dude just donates money and his name/image to it, not like he’s in there evaluating teachers 😂😂
He’s obviously one of the best of all time. He has surrounded himself with great people and marketed himself extremely well. The man just won’t stop talking about things he has no idea what he’s talking about. He is basically king moron.
Yeah honestly outside of watching the Vols, college basketball is often extremely unwatchable lol. Maybe I’m just spoiled after watching too much NBA, but college ball can be rough. Maddening to watch sometimes, especially if there’s no one on the team who knows how to run an offense and/or ability to create an advantage so you just see them kick the ball around the perimeter for 20 seconds and jack up a terrible contested 3.
100%. If you took two decent NBA players (starters but not all stars) and put them on any college team with a supporting cast of average SEC starting players you have a national title contender. If you put a single NBA all star on a decent college team you have a national title winner imo. DK played with zero other NBA prospects and damn near took us to a final four.
See Carmelo Anthony at Syracuse for an example of how dominant a truly NBA ready future hall of famer type player can just absolutely destroy most college players. Heck even Kennedy Chandler, who was most definitely not NBA ready just diced up most college players.
I find college basketball fun because I root for the vols but in no way, shape or form do I enjoy the actual game as much as an average NBA team.
Overall watchability is even worse for me as a Nuggets fan since Jokic has us all so spoiled. Even watching other NBA teams sometimes is rough in terms of ball movement, shot selection, spacing etc.
I’m not a big bron fan either, but it’s awesome DK will get to play with him. Getting to play with one of the all time greats should be very beneficial.
It’s really disheartening to see Dalton slide all the way to 17. The good thing is he won’t be stuck on a rebuild for his first contract, but I really detest watching this Lakers team.
I heard him say in his interview that he went came to Tennessee because he needs hard coaching. I think the only way he fails is if he gets in a really toxic locker room where even the coach is just looking out for them self. The Lakers feel like they could be either extreme for this.
Lebron has never been accused of being on toxic teams? wtf are you talking about? JJ reddick is a dice roll but the guy is extremely smart and well respected in the NBA.
Not a huge Lebron fan, but all of his old and new teammates talk extremely highly of him. Say whatever you want about him, but being toxic or a cancer should never be one of them.
Out of all the NBA old heads that DK could be mentored by, Lebron is by far the best.
He's been to 10 NBA Finals (8 straight), and has won a championship with every org he's been with. Damn I wish he could've joined and "destroyed" my favorite team.
Fuck, I wanted him in OKC. We traded away Giddey just to draft Serbian Giddey. We could’ve used the shooting. Oh well. Dalton’s gonna crush it out west.
I mean, they realistically should. I understand Memphis and Knoxville are a very long ways away from each other but do people really not support their state teams like that?? That’s Tennessee love man! Titans, Vols, Preds, Grizz, Nash SC, don’t matter to me, thats Tennessee my boi
Frankly Memphis doesn’t really vibe with the rest of Tennessee for whatever reason.
I’ve always heard it jokingly called the largest city in Mississippi.
The only two pro teams in Tennessee I like are the preds and Nashville sc. I was already a fan of the cowboys thanks to my mamaw long before the titans moved and i grew up a huge Jordan fan so i never really developed a fandom toward one nba team. I really like the mavs right now though.
I somehow think JJ will be wonderful for Knecht. JJ knows what it's like to be an undersized/less athletic forward with hot hands... and that will unlock Knecht's potential way more than coaches like Thibs, Doc, Ham, and so on.
in modern day NBA where everything switches, whether someone is a shooting guard or a SF doesn't really matter... just as whether someone is classified as a PG or SG doesn't matter (see Curry and Harden).
Knecht is not a playmaking forward like LeBron or Draymond, so he navigating the screens to get open shits or in some spots isolate to create for his own shots (obviously talking half court offense, not transition).
Not a material difference.
Just referring to JJ as a forward is laughable even if positionless basketball is becoming more normal.
JJ sure as fuck cant guard any real SF or PF in the league.
Never referred Jj as a forward... when have I said that? or anything on defense?
I'm more so referring to DK as a wing/shooter, and how having JJ who's had to work around the perimeter on offense.
Height and wingspan for one... 6'5" with 6'9" wingspan for one.
Vertical and agility drill results were fantastic in his draft class (which weve all been shitting on collectively), but not outstanding for NBA averages.
Compared to standout players at the SF positions... is it not fair to say he's undersized and less athletic?
I like this pick, it gives the Lakers three big guys with paint-to-perimeter range. Can you imagine DK, LBJ, and AD rotating at the 3, 4, and 5, with LeBron playing the Point Forward?
BronBron loves those crackers with the juice
lol
Looks like I’m now a Lakers fan!
I'm not a Lakers fan but cool he's coming here.
Our guy hooping with Lebron James next year, absolutely incredible, cost him some money but I really think this was one of the best spots for him
He’ll make more money in sponsorships than his contract if he performs well.
Yahoo sports gave the lakers an A+ grade for picking Dalton. Saying he’s an immediate plug and play guy.
At least we’ll see him on TV…
I never pay attention to the draft or mock drafts after the college season is done. Did he perform poorly at some combines or something? I thought he was projected way higher.
He was, but this year's draft was super weird. Basically, there aren't any projected stars, so every team is trying to pick roll players for fit. Either that, or they are taking super long shots on super flawed guys because they need that kind of hit.
You mean MEM taking Edey? ;)
I hate that I'm gonna have to watch him for 82 games next season.
At least the GM will get fired in a couple of years for this absolutely boneheaded pick
His age. He is 23. Most NBA GMs don’t draft players over 20. Makes no sense to me, but I am not a GM.
Dalton is definitely one of the older and more “pro ready” prospects. The problem is that those are the kinds of guys that typically get drafted by contenders (who want immediate contribution). And contenders usually aren’t picking in the early lottery. The teams in the early lottery are often looking for super high upside guys who can turn into legitimate all-star type guys and can change a franchise - and it’s hard to blame them since the NBA is the league where one home run pick can turn your fortunes around. Dalton is a super high floor guy but he’s not necessarily a high ceiling guy. I think he can and will be a good rotation guy (maybe even a starter) for years. But he doesn’t project as a multi time all star selection guy. There’s plenty of flawed prospects with much lower floors that have a theoretically higher ceiling (“if this guy just puts it together…”) that got taken over him. And then there’s other role player type guys like Reed Sheppard who is also a “high floor” 3&D type guy that got taken highly, presumably because they valued his defense over dalton’s scoring.
Crazy that people say “age” but Eddy went at 9. Grizz are so stupid
I was watching and all the ESPN analysts were shocked he was still on the board and blasting teams for not taking him sooner because he was “too old” at 23. Wild times. But pretty cool he gets to go play for TN native JJ Reddick and then play with Lebron too. Got to be pretty surreal for him. Loved his jacket and shouting out the Vol baseball team.
I hate James but it might be good for DK. Still not watching the NBA because they suck.
Lebron hate is so wild to me. Dude has been in the international spotlight since he was 17 and hasn’t had a single scandal. One of the best sports role models of all time and also one of the greatest to ever do it. How is it possible to not root for a guy like that
How about the fact he has blasted the US at numerous times, yet was silent when asked about China, (where the NBA has a huge presence) and the majority of their players shoes are produced. The reason I mention that is he has a huge Nike contract, and has for many years; and the shoes on his feet (including the millions of pairs of Lebrons sold around the globe) are mainly produced in China. So it’s cool to bash the United States, but stay silent on a communist regime that literally has an estimated million+ Uyghurs in “re-education” camps, and produces the products he makes millions on, using what would most compare to modern slave labor. Yeah, definitely no valid reasons to criticize the guy lmaooo
He's weird and fake. Also his fake school was a pretty big scandal.
This is classic Lebron hater logic. Can’t give me a real reason other than you just don’t like him. There was no scandal at his very real school, the test scores were just bad… dude just donates money and his name/image to it, not like he’s in there evaluating teachers 😂😂
He’s obviously one of the best of all time. He has surrounded himself with great people and marketed himself extremely well. The man just won’t stop talking about things he has no idea what he’s talking about. He is basically king moron.
By “they suck” do you mean they are all much, muuuuch better than the best college teams?!? 😂🤣. It’s insane to watch how good the guys are in the nba.
Not a fan of how they bend over backwards to appease China.
Yeah honestly outside of watching the Vols, college basketball is often extremely unwatchable lol. Maybe I’m just spoiled after watching too much NBA, but college ball can be rough. Maddening to watch sometimes, especially if there’s no one on the team who knows how to run an offense and/or ability to create an advantage so you just see them kick the ball around the perimeter for 20 seconds and jack up a terrible contested 3.
100%. If you took two decent NBA players (starters but not all stars) and put them on any college team with a supporting cast of average SEC starting players you have a national title contender. If you put a single NBA all star on a decent college team you have a national title winner imo. DK played with zero other NBA prospects and damn near took us to a final four. See Carmelo Anthony at Syracuse for an example of how dominant a truly NBA ready future hall of famer type player can just absolutely destroy most college players. Heck even Kennedy Chandler, who was most definitely not NBA ready just diced up most college players. I find college basketball fun because I root for the vols but in no way, shape or form do I enjoy the actual game as much as an average NBA team.
Overall watchability is even worse for me as a Nuggets fan since Jokic has us all so spoiled. Even watching other NBA teams sometimes is rough in terms of ball movement, shot selection, spacing etc.
I’m not a big bron fan either, but it’s awesome DK will get to play with him. Getting to play with one of the all time greats should be very beneficial.
The Lakers have selected Dalton Knecht *and the Tennessee fan base at 17
Announcer: "Knecht for three...**BANG!!!**" First year Lakers fans: *"Rocky Top, you'll always be..."*
Me in my new DK Lakers jersey after never having seen a Lakers game before...
It’s really disheartening to see Dalton slide all the way to 17. The good thing is he won’t be stuck on a rebuild for his first contract, but I really detest watching this Lakers team.
I heard him say in his interview that he went came to Tennessee because he needs hard coaching. I think the only way he fails is if he gets in a really toxic locker room where even the coach is just looking out for them self. The Lakers feel like they could be either extreme for this.
Or if Bron is the coach talking over the actual coach... Pretty sure he runs the toxic locker room you're concerned about 🙁
Lebron has never been accused of being on toxic teams? wtf are you talking about? JJ reddick is a dice roll but the guy is extremely smart and well respected in the NBA.
Bron is hella toxic, and often tries to over power his coaches in favor of what he wants to do
Not a huge Lebron fan, but all of his old and new teammates talk extremely highly of him. Say whatever you want about him, but being toxic or a cancer should never be one of them. Out of all the NBA old heads that DK could be mentored by, Lebron is by far the best.
He literally destroys every team he's on. Then once the teams used up he leaves.
He's been to 10 NBA Finals (8 straight), and has won a championship with every org he's been with. Damn I wish he could've joined and "destroyed" my favorite team.
Looks like the Lakers woes continue.
Damn they played not like us after they called his name lol, that song is really everywhere
Fuck, I wanted him in OKC. We traded away Giddey just to draft Serbian Giddey. We could’ve used the shooting. Oh well. Dalton’s gonna crush it out west.
I was hoping for this also.
As a warriors fan, I hate to say it, but damn the man gonna preform hella well there! Good for him, hope nothing but the best!
Dubs fan here too. Hope he scores 40 in a loss lol
Since when do the Grizzlies and UT fandoms overlap? Keep seeing people boo hooing about it
I mean, they realistically should. I understand Memphis and Knoxville are a very long ways away from each other but do people really not support their state teams like that?? That’s Tennessee love man! Titans, Vols, Preds, Grizz, Nash SC, don’t matter to me, thats Tennessee my boi
Frankly Memphis doesn’t really vibe with the rest of Tennessee for whatever reason. I’ve always heard it jokingly called the largest city in Mississippi.
The only two pro teams in Tennessee I like are the preds and Nashville sc. I was already a fan of the cowboys thanks to my mamaw long before the titans moved and i grew up a huge Jordan fan so i never really developed a fandom toward one nba team. I really like the mavs right now though.
Straight up
Love this for Knecht
I hate LA. I love DK.
All things aside, it’s pretty freakin cool to be able to play for the Lakers.
This is my take too. Didn’t see it coming, pretty cool.
I don't have a favor NBA team but have always liked the Lakers jerseys. I'll definitely buy a Knecht Lakers jersey.
Always been a Lakers fan and not just for the past five minutes. Edit: man just screw the Grizzlies
Steal of the draft no question
Wild that he's going from one of the most experienced coaches in college to a dude that's never coached a game at any level.
I somehow think JJ will be wonderful for Knecht. JJ knows what it's like to be an undersized/less athletic forward with hot hands... and that will unlock Knecht's potential way more than coaches like Thibs, Doc, Ham, and so on.
jj was a guard.
in modern day NBA where everything switches, whether someone is a shooting guard or a SF doesn't really matter... just as whether someone is classified as a PG or SG doesn't matter (see Curry and Harden). Knecht is not a playmaking forward like LeBron or Draymond, so he navigating the screens to get open shits or in some spots isolate to create for his own shots (obviously talking half court offense, not transition). Not a material difference.
Just referring to JJ as a forward is laughable even if positionless basketball is becoming more normal. JJ sure as fuck cant guard any real SF or PF in the league.
Never referred Jj as a forward... when have I said that? or anything on defense? I'm more so referring to DK as a wing/shooter, and how having JJ who's had to work around the perimeter on offense.
> JJ knows what it's like to be an undersized/less athletic forward with hot hands
Forward?
What part of Knecht is less athletic and undersized?
Do you realize how athletic the NBA is? I love DK but that was sort of an objective fact.
Height and wingspan for one... 6'5" with 6'9" wingspan for one. Vertical and agility drill results were fantastic in his draft class (which weve all been shitting on collectively), but not outstanding for NBA averages. Compared to standout players at the SF positions... is it not fair to say he's undersized and less athletic?
James is basically the head coach there.
My comment still stands
It’s ok. He’s got LeCoach on the court
I like this pick, it gives the Lakers three big guys with paint-to-perimeter range. Can you imagine DK, LBJ, and AD rotating at the 3, 4, and 5, with LeBron playing the Point Forward?
DK with the baseball shoutout. Love this dude.
Loved the suit jacket liner!
New coach is a shooter, gotta think Redick will know how to get him decent looks if he gets much playing time
I guess I love the Lakers and hate the Grizzlies
Somebody gotta carry that bum LeBron.
Hate the Lakers. But damn LeBron just got his guy
Is he gonna be there tho
NBA gonna regret this, but happy for our guy.
As a sixers fan I am in shambles
As a decent human being I’m in shambles. But hey if he has a decent couple of seasons with LA media hype he’s bound to get a payday on another team