JJ Redick & D’Angelo Russell remain confident on Dalton Knecht

When the Los Angeles Lakers drafted Dalton Knecht, the initial thought was that he could contribute immediately, leading to inflated NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

One of the best pure shooters in his draft class, Knecht had an easy path to minutes, but thus far has struggled to shoot the basketball.

While the results haven’t been there for Knecht, who is shooting 38.6% from the field and 28.9% from 3-point range through his first 10 games, head coach JJ Redick is still pleased with the shots he’s taking and believes that they will go down at some point.

“I have,” Redick said. “For me, he’s got some really nice looks both organically and when we’ve run sets for him. I am undaunted in my thoughts that he is a tier, top 1% shooter. I see it almost every day. Sometimes you go through things, and because I played for 15 years, it’s always difficult for me early in the season if I didn’t get off to a good start shooting 3s. It became more than it was and I just started focusing on the long term and thought that the law of averages would work, that there would be regression to the mean and I would end up being a 40% 3-point shooter .

“But it’s tough mentally, I think, and I don’t speak for him, but I think for shooters it’s difficult when you start shooting the ball slowly. It can weigh you down a bit. I’ve talked to him about it, and he believes there will be a shot every time. And so do I.”

D’Angelo Russell chimed in, saying he believes Knecht’s time will come and to be ready for it when it does.

“Every young player in the league wants it right away,” Russell said. “The basketball gods have a funny way of hiding those blessings. So for him, you just have to know your time is coming and just be ready. I think he’ll be ready when his time comes.”

Rookies will typically be up and down in their first year in the league, so the best thing for Knecht is to continue to let it fly and stay confident. In the Lakers’ win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night, Knecht shot just 1-of-2, but it was a big one as his corner triple gave LA the lead late in the third quarter.

JJ Redick credits the Lakers for responding to the coaching staff

In the Lakers’ recent win against the Toronto Raptors, the team came out flat in the first half and struggled to get much going on both ends. But they were able to turn things around in the second half, and JJ Redick credited the players, including Dalton Knecht, for responding to the coaching staff.

Do you have subscribe to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to see player interviews, exclusive event coverage, attend live shows and more!