Lakers’ JJ Redick Started Drawing Plays for Dalton Knecht Right After He Was Drafted

Kristen Wong | Jun 27, 2024

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

New Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick wasted no time getting down to business during Day 1 of the NBA Draft.

Following the Lakers’ first-round selection which saw the team take Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht with the No. 17 pick, Redick apparently broke out the whiteboard immediately and started brainstorming ways to incorporate Knecht into the offensive scheme next season.

“I was joking with Coach Redick upstairs that we’ve found a movement shooter to match his skills as a player, and he was already at his whiteboard drawing up pindowns and ATO and actions where he could run a movement shooter off screen,” Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka told reporters on Wednesday. “I think his mind is already working on drawing up plays for Dalton.”

It should perhaps come as no surprise that Redick, one of the most cerebral minds in the game and the former host of two analytical basketball podcasts, wants to get a head start on his first season in charge of the Lakers. 

Pelinka also noted that the Lakers had Knecht as a top-10 player “unanimously” across their scouting boards, and that they were pleasantly surprised to see him fall all the way down to No. 17.

Pelinka’s anecdote about Redick caused some Lakers fans to crack jokes at the expense of former Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, who has since been turned into various memes following his firing in early May.

Day 2 of the NBA draft begins at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday.