Lakers Rumors: Dalton Knecht's Age, Not Injury Concern, Led to Slide in NBA Draft

The Los Angeles Lakers landed a steal with the 17th pick in the NBA draft on Wednesday, as their selection of former Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht received nearly universal praise.

ESPN's Jonathan Givony provided an explanation for Knecht falling out of the lottery and tumbling down the draft board, reporting that some teams were concerned about his age.

"A half-dozen NBA executives told ESPN that it was Knecht's age—he turned 23 on April 19—and not concerns about his medicals or other reasons that primarily caused his slide," Givony stated. "His workouts and interviews were excellent, some of those same executives confirmed, with his defense being another reason cited for his fall down the draft board."

Givony named the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat as two teams that surprisingly passed on Knecht despite the fact that they "seem to be in win-now mode and could clearly use a shooter/scorer in his mold."

In his lone season at Tennessee after transferring from Northern Colorado, Knecht averaged 21.7 points while shooting 39.7 percent from three-point range. Givony described him as "the most prolific scorer in this draft not named Zach Edey."

It's clear that Knecht will have a significant role as a rookie playing alongside Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said after Wednesday's first round that newly hired head coach JJ Redick immediately began drawing up plays for Knecht after Los Angeles selected him.

"None of us thought he'd be there. It's crazy," a team source told Givony. "The most ready guy in the draft, ready to play right away."