2024 NBA Draft: Is Lakers draftee Dalton Knecht perfect for JJ Redick and LeBron James?

Rob Pelinka made it abundantly clear that he believes Knecht was a steal at No. 17

By James Herbert Jun 27, 2024 at 9:18 am ET• 3 min read

NEW YORK -- In April, Dalton Knecht rolled out of bed to a ton of text messages. He also got a call from his parents. Everybody wanted the Tennessee wing to see the video of LeBron James talking about him.

"I thought it was fake," Knecht said Wednesday at Barclays Center.

Knecht's name had only come up briefly in a lengthy clip of James discussing the relative popularity of the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments, posted by ESPN's Dave McMenamin. But it was clearly a big deal. James said he'd watched Tennessee's game against Purdue "because of Zach Edey and Knecht."

Now, Knecht and James are teammates, assuming that the superstar re-signs with the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason. Los Angeles selected the 23-year-old wing with the No. 17 pick in the draft.

"This is going to be special," Knecht said. "And it's going to be fun to be sharing that court with both of 'em, AD and Bron."