Rookie Dalton Knecht shows why the Lakers think they got a bargain

Lakers rookie guard Dalton Knecht held the game ball in his locker after dominating the final minutes of the Lakers' overtime win Thursday in Phoenix, a proud moment for someone no stranger to dominating a game.

“That felt just like Auburn,” he said with a smile, recalling the game last season in which he scored 39 points in a win over SEC rival Tennessee.

However, the differences weren't so subtle.

The Auburn game? It didn't end up with LeBron James and Anthony Davis cheering Knecht on the sidelines after he metaphorically caught fire. That didn't happen when one of the NBA's best shooters, Reggie Miller, was on the broadcast. That didn't happen when Knecht's all-time favorite player, Kevin Durant, on the other hand, encouraged him to keep going.

As a Los Angeles Laker, that didn't happen, preseason or not.

As he walked onto the court for overtime after firing the Lakers back into the game, Durant found Knecht on the court and delivered a message that may have been even more valuable than the game ball.

“Go take over the game,” he told the rookie.

His future Hall of Fame teammates had just given him the same advice.

“Bron and AD said, 'It's time.' So it was just time to take over,” said Knecht.

It confirmed the early praise heaped on Knecht, as it looks like he will undoubtedly be part of the team's rotation after training camp.

“Reggie [Miller] and I was talking about it before the game and he was like, “It's high praise to say he's in the 1 percent of shooters.” And I'm like, “Yeah, he's in the 1 percent of shooters,” said Lakers coach JJ Redick. “The special thing about him is simply his mentality. This was very clear in the pickup before the season. He has no fear in training camp or in games so far. He is not afraid of the moment.

“That was a show he put on.”

The display – 35 points, including a stretch in which he scored 20 in a row late in the fourth quarter and in overtime – certainly gives the impression that the Lakers got a bargain in the draft. According to league officials, Knecht fell to the team at No. 17 due to concerns about his age and defensive limitations.

And the questions about Knecht's defense, coaches and teammates say, won't be unsolvable thanks to his coaching ability and desire to improve.

“The way he shoots the ball and the way he listens to you say, 'Dalton, do it,' he's going to get it done.” “There's no ifs and buts about it,” Austin Reaves said. “No, 'I thought it was this, I thought it was that.' As you say, ‘Be low (on defense), go vertical.’ That’s what he’ll do. So it's good to have that quality and, as I said, to be able to shoot the ball the way he can. It will be difficult for him to be off the floor at times. Obviously, defensively, he works hard every day to get better. He asks questions, and that’s all you can ask of a rookie.”

The Lakers took a close look at Knecht this fall. He leads the Lakers in minutes and averages 10 three-point attempts per game. Before Thursday, he was shooting just 27%. He missed a potential three-way tie early in the preseason against the Suns.

“Just those moments that you dream about as a child and you realize that they want those moments. He wants the shot he missed, I think it was Palm Springs, right? To bind it. You could see in the locker room how much that shot meant to him,” Reavers said. “He was angry. You could tell by the way he looked at him, like he wasn't happy with himself. And that’s a very good quality.”

The Lakers and Redick already seemed committed to him before he showed the kind of scoring prowess last season that made him one of college basketball's great stories.

“He just has a certain mental toughness about him,” Redick said. “And whether it’s the offensive rebounding, the competitiveness on defense. He tries. He still has a lot to learn and get better at, but he's trying. And honestly, sometimes that’s half the battle.”

And on Thursday, he had his first real moment as a pro — while Durant, James, Davis and others looked on.

“It was unreal to see him go out there and put in such a performance in the second half. It was… I almost made a hole-in-one the other day. I hit the ball right away and I liked the excitement I had then, like I had the whole fourth quarter,” Reaves said. “So it’s beautiful. You can see how much work he puts in every day. He chases people right after training to shoot. So you take your hat off to a guy like that. And to be honest, I expected all those shots to come in.”