During his time at Tennessee, Dalton Knecht says he studied film of the man who now coaches his team, JJ Redick, to become a better shooter.
While JJ Redick’s career peaked as a role player, he was one of the best shooters in the league’s history. He may not have been a Steph Curry a Damian Lillard, but he was elite for his role as an off-guard movement shooter.
Naturally, young players would model their games after a player like that, including the Lakers’ newest draftee, Dalton Knecht. When talking to the media in Brooklyn after being drafted, he spoke about studying film on Redick with his college head coach Rick Barnes.
“At Tennessee, I watched a lot of JJ Redick with Coach Barnes,” Knecht said. “Just the way he moves and paces himself, and was able to create space...it’s going to be really exciting and really special.”
It’s hard to imagine a better situation for a young shooter to end up in than under the tutelage of Redick. No one will know how to best utilize a movement shooter like Redick can and that likely explains why he’s so excited for the pick.
Knecht will provide the Lakers a type of player they haven’t had in many years. Not since Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was a Laker has the team and LeBron James had a shooter that can come off screens and knock down shots.
For all the shooting they may have had with someone like D’Angelo Russell or even Malik Monk, it’s been more standstill or off-the-dribble shotmakers. It’s certainly a different skill to shoot off the move and it creates a different kind of gravity, impacting defenses differently.
On top of having one of the best coaches for his skillset, there’s also perhaps never been a better player in league history to play alongside as a movement shooter than LeBron James. While it’s a very different LeBron at this point in his career, he still has a lengthy track record of working well alongside shooters like Ray Allen, Kyle Korver or the aforementioned KCP.
Knecht is walking into a great situation with a coach he’s studied and will be able to use him best and one of the greatest players ever known for helping a player with his skillset excel.
While it doesn’t mean guaranteed success, it sets the table nicely for Knecht this season.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
