Lakers first round pick Dalton Knecht is one of the biggest steals of the season and has spoken honestly about moving down the ranks, after being expected to go in the top ten.
Shockingly, when draft day came, he was selected by the Lakers as the 17th pick and is using it as fuel.
“It’s encouraging that those teams have slipped and the Lakers completely believed in me. No matter what happens, I will put in the work. But it really motivates me to keep doing more work. Like when I was a kid in Southern Colorado trying to make a D-1 team with all my guys over there. [at Prairie View High School]. Nothing really changes. I remain who I am. I get shots at the gym. I try to take care of my body. I try to be the best team player I can be,” Knecht told Sportskeeda’s Mike Media.
After one of the Lakers’ first games, Charles Barkley ripped the league’s management for allowing him to slip so low.
“First of all, these NBA General Managers have no idea what they’re doing,” Barkley said on TNT’s Inside the NBA. “Letting the Lakers get Dalton Knecht was one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen. That’s a bad boy. Dalton Knecht, remember that name.”
The rookie has been impressive to start the season, averaging 7.7 points, 0.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists on 50 percent shooting from the field and 41.7 percent from three in just 16.3 minutes.
“I’m just going to go out and play,” Knecht said. “I will be who I am and do whatever the team needs me to do. I will go out and compete. I will always have my hat on my shoulder, whether they wrote me or not. If I’m not their team, I’ll have a chip no matter what. If I play any team, I’ll have a chip on my shoulder because that’s who I am.”
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