Dalton Knecht had a rollercoaster rookie year with the Los Angeles Lakers as he started the 2024-25 season as a high-upside bench player, got traded, came back in the rescinded deal and then rode the bench the rest of the way.
Knecht shared some of his rookie year highlights earlier this offseason but has been hard at work preparing for his sophomore year.
Austin Reaves took Knecht under his wing and has been a mentor for the athletic guard, so it’s no surprise that he picked the Tennessee product to have a breakout 2025-26 campaign when asked to make a prediction.
I got Dalton,” Reaves told Lakers Nation. “I’ve heard that he’s been locked in for the last 2-3 weeks in L.A. working out two or three times a day. His talent level is definitely there. Towards the end of the year, which I was really happy about, when he wasn’t playing as much — I wasn’t happy he wasn’t playing — but he started to ask questions and be curious in situations where earlier in the year he wasn’t. I remember after the Chicago game that Josh Giddey hit the half-court shot, we were sitting there in the locker room and it was just me and him and he looked at me and he was like, ‘What do I need to do to get on the court?’ And I went through my whole spiel of what I thought he could do. But it’s just little things like that that early in the year he wasn’t doing that now he understands that there’s a lot for him to learn.
“Like I said, the talent is there. You look at a game like Denver in Denver when nobody played, he goes and has I think 35. His shot-making ability is through the roof… I think that he can make any shot in basketball. I genuinely don’t think there’s a shot that he can’t make. And he’s 6’7”, wingspan is long, he’s athletic. So all the tools are there and the mindset is getting to where we want it. So very excited about that.
Reaves has a knack for picking breakout players as he previously named D’Angelo Russell and Max Christie as people he saw having big seasons for the Lakers. Both Russell and Christie played better than expected, so it’s fair to assume that Reaves is right on the money again with Knecht.
LeBron James is likely only due to play a couple more season at most, but Dalton Knecht is hoping to play with him for another five to 10 years on the Lakers.
