JJ Redick Excited To Develop Young Laker: 'He Wants To Be Great'

Los Angeles needs its bench pieces to take off this season.

Oct 25, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick reacts against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images / Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers seem to have landed on a diamond in the rough in the 2024 NBA Draft.

And we're not talking about Bronny James.

6-foot-5 swingman Dalton Knecht was selected with the No. 17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, following an All-American season with the University of Tennessee Volunteers. He's already been impressive as an energy-shifting bench shooter, a release valve for All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Across his four games with the 3-1 Lakers, the 23-year-old is averaging 5.8 points on a .421/.385/1.000 slash line (that 38.5 percent 3-point rate arrives on a solid 3.3 triple tries a night), 1.3 assists and 0.5 steals, in just 15.3 minutes per.

First-year Lakers head coach JJ Redick raved about Knecht's coachability and scoring upside, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Redick acknowledges that Los Angeles was excited to add a win-now rookie this season, following two years of drafting longer term project players. One of those, 2022 second round draft pick Max Christie, is finally rounding into reserve form, and has already lapped former lottery selection Cam Reddish in Redick's bench rotations.

"I would say when we drafted him, we felt like he could contribute right away," Redick revealed. "Summer league confirmed that. Our work with him this summer and in September confirmed that. You obviously then have to translate to a game, particularly on the defensive side of the ball for a rookie. And that's where I think we're most encouraged. Again, he's gonna make some mistakes and that's OK. He wants to be coached. He wants to be great."

Knecht's weakness is defense, a reality that even Redick acknowledged. Though Redick isn't hoping for Knecht to transform into Jrue Holiday anytime soon, he does want the young guard to at least step up and challenge himself on that end of the hardwood.

"But for me, I challenged him when we were four weeks out from training camp and we were doing a lot of small-group games and I just said, 'Hey, you're not gonna be a lockdown defender. I need your competitive spirit on that end of the floor to be higher,'" Redick added. "And it was higher the next day, and it's been higher ever since. And that's what I meant by coachable. You tell him to do something and he does it."

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