'D'Angelo Russell better start thinking about the Sixth Man award now' - Eddie Johnson says Dalton Knecht could steal DLo's spot

The writing was on the wall

We already saw Knecht's potential during the preseason, but only a few took notice. Dalton produced double-digit points in three out of his first four preseason games, but in the Lakers' finale against EJ's Suns, the rookie went unconscious and dropped 35 points while shooting 8-13 from three-point range.

Knecht took the backseat when the regular season began, but with Rui Hachimura out with an ankle injury in their game against the Spurs on Friday, he scored 17 points on 6-11 shooting. Dalton reset his career-high one contest later with 27 on 10-17 shooting against the Pelicans. And to conclude the hot run, Johnson thinks the Tennesse product cemented his spot in the starting lineup with a monster 37-point shooting display against the Jazz on Tuesday.

"But he can play 6'6", he's a tall dude. He can put it on the floor, he can do other things too. They found their guy in the starting lineup. D'Angelo Russell better start thinking about the Sixth Man award now," Eddie added.

The Lakers are rolling

Overall, Russell is averaging just 11.8 points and 4.9 assists per game this season. He put up 12.0 points and 5.8 assists per contest in 8 outings as a starter, so there is little difference in D'Angelo's performance since he moved to the bench. Meanwhile, Knecht's outside shooting has helped open up the Purple and Gold's offensive game and taken some of the load off LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

With Tuesday's win over the Jazz, the Lakers improved to 10-4 on the season and are are in third place in the latest Western Conference team standings. They are just one game behind the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder for the top spot.

Hachimura is expected to return soon for the Lakers, and it will be interesting to see what Redick does with Knecht, Cam Reddish, and Rui fighting for the remaining two starter positions. But one thing's certain: Dalton's performance will make it harder for DLo to get his old role back, if at all.