Lakers News: Cam Reddish was benched against the Spurs, Dalton Knecht to start

On November 28, 2024By Littum

After Tuesday’s blowout loss to the Suns, their second straight 20-plus point loss, JJ Redick is making another change to the Lakers starting lineup.

He moves Cam Reddish back to the bench and replaces him with Dalton Knecht.

Lakers’ starters vs. Spurs:
Austin Reaves
Dalton Knecht
Rui Hachimura
LeBron James
Anthony Davis

Knecht replaces Cam Reddish in the starting lineup. LA leans even more towards its offensive identity.

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) 28 November 2024

Due to their lingering injuries, Knecht and Reddish were both doubtful to play, but were cleared for action before the starting lineups were officially announced.

This move makes sense as this team struggles offensively and defensively. While Reddish is undeniably a better defender, has given the Lakers next to nothing on the offensive side of the ball.

Meanwhile, in the games Knecht has started, he has averaged 19.6 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 50% from 3-point range on eight attempts per game. match.

Those are some impressive stats for a rookie. Considering the team is in a slump and the second night in a back-to-back, it’s worth trying this out and seeing how effective it is.

Longtime NBA reporter Zach Lowe made this exact suggestion Wednesday morning via Twitter, stating that Knecht’s offense was a much bigger upgrade than what the Lakers are getting because of Reddish’s defense.

Case for starting Knecht over Reddish — first look at ~7min 3Q last night, Tyus Jones hides on Reddish + Reddish spends the entire stretch standing in the r. corner. New LAL from 5 is -21 in 65 minutes. Small sample. Reddishly better on D, but off-def trade-offs are sharp regardless.

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) 27 November 2024

With Knecht starting, the Lakers will lean toward being an offensive-minded team, which seems to be their main identity, as the only players who consistently play good defense are Anthony Davis and Reddish.

Despite the move to the bench, Lakers fans should expect Reddish to remain in the rotation. He’s been a good defender, and the other fringe rotation players, such as Max Christie and Gabe Vincent, certainly haven’t done enough to demote Reddish from starting to not playing at all.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.