Lakers Steal Dalton Knecht With No. 17 Overall Pick After Slide

Who knew that agism would ever play a role in an NBA draft? Well, that's exactly what happened to 23-year-old Dalton Knecht, who slipped completely off of Lottery Mountain into the wise hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers jumped in and flat-out stole him with the 17th overall pick in the NBA draft on Wednesday night.

Knecht, who transferred to the Tennessee Volunteers last year, averaged 21.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. He also helped lead the team into the Elite Eight—which was the program’s deepest NCAA tournament run since 2010. He was also named the SEC’s Player of the Year and a first-team All-American while shooting nearly 40% from the 3-point arc and was widely regarded as one of the top shooters in this year's draft.

Most draft experts had him going in the top 10, and even the ESPN broadcast crew seemed confused about the slide, which was later reported that teams steered clear of Knecht because of his age. The reality of the 30 players picked tonight is that maybe 5 of them are NBA-ready today, and Knecht happens to be one of them.

THE UNDERRATED OPINION
Knecht is exactly what the Lakers need: a wing that drains threes. I guess a handful of teams will regret using the age excuse by next season's all-star break. Knecht defied the odds by playing two years at Northeastern Junior College and then spent two years at Northern Colorado before landing at Tennessee last season. He emerged as one of the nation's best scorers once joining the Volunteers, leading the program to a 27-9.

The reality is that while all those teams who picked before the Lakers primarily drafted teenagers, Knecht is ready to star now. That's not bad for a kid who had zero offers to play college basketball.