The Lakers right a wrong by drafting Dalton Knecht

Last year, the Lakers passed on Cam Whitmore at the No. 17 pick. This year, faced with the same scenario, they selected Dalton Knecht and embraced a win-now player.

On Wednesday, the Lakers selected Dalton Knecht at No. 17 in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft, a pick no one saw coming before the night began.

Why did no mock drafts have the Lakers taking Knecht? Because everyone thought he’d be gone somewhere in the lottery. Instead, he fell to them in the middle of the draft and the Lakers pulled the trigger and got the shooter from Tennessee.

This move is in stark contrast to last year when the Lakers passed on Whitmore, who fell in the draft, similar to Knecht. In the 2023 NBA Draft build-up, Whitmore was seen as a top-10 pick, mocked to the Pistons with the fifth pick in one of DraftExpress’ final mock drafts. In the 2024 NBA Draft build-up, Knecht was seen as a top-10 pick, mocked to the Hornets with the No. 6 pick.

It certainly felt like last year, the Lakers were set on Hood-Schifino and didn’t care if the best player available fell to them. Usually, that would be fine, especially if the player produced, but Hood-Schifino was always going to be a project that needed years to develop.

That kind of patience is not currently found with LeBron James entering the final years of his career and the franchise aiming to win right now.

Fans also fanned the flames, impatient and frustrated that a first-round pick was not giving them anything. What made the situation worse was that multiple players drafted immediately after JHS played meaningful minutes.

The No. 18 pick, Jaime Jaquez Jr., was a rotation player for the Miami Heat and participated in the dunk contest. The No. 19 pick, Brandin Podziemski, played in 74 games for the Warriors and started in 28 of them, often over Klay Thompson. The No. 20 pick, Whitmore, was a bucket getter, averaging 12.3 points per game in just 18.7 minutes per contest.

Now, I’m still a believer in Hood-Schifino. I see a young point guard who could contribute to winning basketball and do so in subsequent years. However, the undeniable truth is all three players taken after him are better right now and would have been better players for the Lakers than Hood-Schifino is capable of being.

So, that brings us to this year’s draft.

It’s 2024, and the Lakers are in the same situation they were in the night of the 2023 NBA Draft, fresh off a playoff defeat at the hands of the Nuggets', slotted at the 17th spot in the draft and finding themselves with the option of selecting a prospect that was falling down the draft.

This time around, their decision was clear. They didn’t let Knecht drop anymore and made him a Laker.

It turns out the Lakers had Dalton Knecht as a top-10 player “unanimously” on their draft board and wouldn’t let him slip past them.

Is Knecht the steal of the draft? Years from now, will we look at this pick and wonder, “Why did he drop so far?” I have no idea, but I know this: sometimes, the smartest decision is the easiest.

All experts considered Knecht the best player available by the time the Lakers were on the clock. Take him and if he fails, he fails.

Who will be upset about taking a guy who was supposed to be a lottery pick at No. 17? It’s a low-risk, high-reward move, which is a hard pick to make smack dab in the middle of the draft.

Given that he didn’t slip due to an off-court issue or injury concerns, this was just an anomaly the Lakers took full advantage of.

Now will come the honeymoon phase. The highlight clips, the salivating at the Lakers finally drafting a consistent shooter. You’ll do it, I’ll do it, we’ll talk ourselves into it.

And if he has a nice shooting performance in Las Vegas? We’ll start making room for his statue at Crypto and meme him to infinity and beyond.

But honeymoons end and you have to hope that what’s left is quality and value that will be sustainable for years. People speak in absolutes, but none of us know if that’s what Knecht will be; even Knecht doesn't know.

What we do know is the Lakers didn’t make the same mistake twice. There's no point in looking back at last year’s draft board with anger and regret. All you’ll get doing that is agitation. Instead, you live and learn.

The 2024-25 Lakers are quickly righting the wrongs of yesteryear. They let go of head coach Darvin Ham and brought in JJ Redick on a four-year deal. In the draft, they took the player who slipped in Knecht at No. 17.

The Lakers have a lot of adjustments they need to make to go from a seventh seed to a top seed in the West. It’s going to take a bunch of small hits, not a moonshot home run, to get there.

So far, they’ve made solid contact during this part of the offseason and will have more at-bats in the second round with the No. 55 pick.

Everyone expects that pick to be Bronny James, but with the NBA Draft, it’s best to expect the unexpected and even the inevitable can lead to the improbable.

Even if you, me and the Lakers all expect Bronny James to be the No. 55 pick on Thursday, sometimes the best-laid plans go to waste. On Wednesday, the Lakers learned from the past, righted their wrongs and took a small step in the right direction.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.