Lakers get steal of the first round in 2024 NBA Draft after star guard's unexpected fall

Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht's unexpected fall in the 2024 NBA Draft led the Los Angeles Lakers to land the biggest steal of the first round.

A consensus top-10 player on big boards by The Athletic, ESPN and The Ringer, Knecht dropped to No. 17 in the draft. ESPN NBA Draft expert Jonathan Givony said during ESPN's broadcast that in conversations he had with front-office executives, Knecht's age (23) scared other teams away.

After beginning his college career at Northeastern Junior College in Colorado, Knecht transferred to Colorado State, where he played during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

Last year, he transferred to Tennessee, and he won SEC Player of the Year after averaging 21.7 points per game on 45.8 percent shooting, including 39.7 percent from beyond the arc on 6.5 three-point attempts per game.

He led the Volunteers to the Elite Eight, scoring 37 points in a 72-66 loss to Purdue.

While his age was a deterrent for some, the Lakers wisely saw its value. Having spent the past five years in college, Knecht won't have as long of a learning curve as some of the younger players selected ahead of him.

He'll likely be able to contribute immediately, which is crucial for a team that might only have LeBron James for another season or two. The team needs to maximize its title odds in its small championship window, and Knecht is the perfect choice to help the team achieve that goal.

In 2023-24, Los Angeles ranked eighth in three-point shooting (37.7 percent) but was 28th in three-point rate (35.8 percent).

Meanwhile, 40.6 percent of Knecht's attempts came from deep while at Tennessee. And a 6-foot-6, he should be a valuable commodity on the boards. In his introductory news conference, first-year head coach JJ Redick pointed to wings crashing the glass, "especially from the corners," as a way for the Lakers to improve their league-worst 19.9 percent offensive rebound rate.

Knecht checks many boxes for Los Angeles. Soon enough, the rest of the league might kick itself for allowing the union to happen.