One of the reasons that Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht fell to No. 17 in the 2024 NBA Draft was because of his defense. Despite having the size and range to be a good defender, he wasn’t seen as one in college. Many even viewed the Tennessee forward as similar to Lakers head coach JJ Redick, another sharpshooter who wasn’t statistically a great defender during his NBA career.
But through the early part of his rookie season, Knecht is showing that perhaps some of the criticism of his defense was overstated. He is not elite on that end of the floor by any means, but he has shown that he can be serviceable with some of the tools he already has.