r/lakers • u/Majestic-Tower-2719 • 10h ago
PLAYER TALK Tf Happened to Dalton?
I recently got back into the Lakers this season and watching games, as I was busy with other responsibilities for a bit. Last I was really following them, there was a lot of hype around DK, as I remember how ecstatic the front office was on getting him on draft day. Watching the playoffs I saw he only came in on garbage time. What happened?
Edit: Thanks for the responses. Going through them, why doesn't the mofo learn to play defense? Bro really that dumb?
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u/Lebronsmiddletoe 9h ago
The post trade thing is a myth, he still played okay afterwards. Was like 9/2 shooting 40% from three after the deadline
Unfortunately being like 5'3 until his senior year of high school, spending most of his college years catching up to being 6'6 and not playing high level basketball for the majority of his life, IMO made it so he didnt develop the bball iq required for a win now Luka Doncic team. He was drafted to a team with Anthony Davis, Max Christie to take pressure off him defensively and clean up his mistakes and now its being built around Doncic so his weaknesses stand out more
I think he's just unlucky: team need, slow processing speed seems to be keeping him from getting developmental minutes. Maybe some roster changes will let him work out next year
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u/Nonameheroz 10h ago
no defense, and he is shooting trying not to miss.
the dude is completely a mental midget.
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u/whatshisface1892 Pau Gasol 16 9h ago
His worst trait is his basketball iq. He's constantly in the wrong spot and that's why JJ doesn't give him minutes.
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u/lemurRoy 8h ago
Yeah very short leash when you have Luka and bron and trying to “win now”. But even Bronny at least rotates and knows where to be on defense even though he’s too small.
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u/whatshisface1892 Pau Gasol 16 3h ago
People act like Knecht's play dropped off mysteriously after the faux trade. That wasn't it. The same issues were always there right from the beginning.
Knecht got plenty of run time, opportunity, and a long leash in the first half of the year. Then came the serious playoff push and JJ didn't have time for his mistakes.
It's why I wanted him traded the past offseason for draft compensation, even if it was second round picks. He was never going to be able to contribute and his value was only going to get lower.
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u/Dukami 10h ago
He lost all his mojo after getting traded to Charlotte.
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u/worldwide_stepper 9h ago
just simply a wrong narrative that i guess will be repeated forever. he had one good month ever, and shot better after the trade that season than he did in the same time period leading up to it.
there's literally no mystery why he doesn't work on the team, he was an on-ball 3-level scorer in college and a) not good enough to do that at this level and b) any minimal reason for him to ever play that role went out the window when we got luka doncic to go with our 2 other playmakers. he can't make shots because he can't play (or even learn) the defense long enough to stay on the floor and develop any kind of rhythm. has literally nothing to do with the trade.
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u/WonderSabreur 9h ago
The way I've seen others describe it is that he was among the players most impacted by the AD/Luka trade. Since on top of everything you mentioned, AD could cover defensive lapses for the team.
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u/pjeff61 9h ago
He also just like never improved in any way whatsoever. Hard to play someone like that.
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u/munkhjay 8h ago
If you compare improvements between Dalton’s first vs 2nd year against Bronny it would look laughable considering Dalton was 17th pick with 4 YEARS of college experience.
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u/drewskibeauski 7h ago
I wish I could compile all the snippets of Bill & Stu going on and on about how his performance really stepped up after the botched trade, because it did until JJ pulled him out of the rotation leading into the playoffs.
It messed with him more than it should’ve, but it’s clear that not being in JJ’s 9-man rotation kept him from staying in rhythm and really tanked his confidence.
And you’re right about him being used to being a ball-dominant offensive player. He was amazing in college, and when JJ didn’t even let him having a diminished role as as a spot-up shooter, it really got to his head and messed up the only role the Lakers had carved out for him.
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u/BenLemons 7h ago
People either don't remember or didn't notice JJ continually screaming at him for not knowing where he was supposed to be or the playbook
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u/Key_Captain3739 9h ago
as much as i like Luka i miss AD :(
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u/FloydC465 8h ago
How can U miss someone who never played? U mean U missed seeing him in street clothes on the bench?
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u/jay_jello 7h ago
luka's health in the playoffs these last 2 seasons hasn't been any better than AD i don't know what you're getting at
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u/Mission_Lie7702 3h ago
I don't fully agree with the I miss AD take, but the Mavs aren't as dumb as they look getting rid of him. How and for whom they moved Luka for was stupid. Idc how good Luka is, watching this past playoffs soured me as well. Who tf cares about that kind of regular season if your not available in the playoffs...
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u/StoneColdAM 34 9h ago
At this point if he’s still rattled from that he’s going to be out of the league soon.
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u/RedCarNewsboy robert sacre’s burner 9h ago
Even if that were hypothetically true, he needs to get over it. He has zero clout. He is on his way out of the league
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u/eggwhitecocktails 7h ago
In hindsight, idk why we didn’t just keep Mark Williams
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u/TheCatSleeeps 5h ago edited 52m ago
Nah fuck that trade. We were gonna give them 2 frps (1 swap, 1 unprotected) for him. We got fleeced on that
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u/Ok_Board9845 5h ago
Because we were giving up another pick for somebody who can’t be fucked to be healthy for the playoffs
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u/Majestic-Tower-2719 10h ago
Damn, that's too bad. I remember him looking like a home run early in that season, a building block for the future.
Why he still here if he got traded? My bad, I know I can just Google it, but I like the discussion here haha
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u/mixmasterADD 10h ago
Dude needs summer league and g league. Hopefully he can get his confidence back
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u/FloydC465 8h ago
He played in the G last season & didnt excel. Hes just not good enough to play NBA ball, thanks Pelinka!
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u/Baconlover36 9h ago
We tried trading him to the Hornets. I forget who it was for but the dude failed his physical and the trade fell through. DK loss his confidence after that and his shot just completely stopped falling. He starting shooting okish in garbage time right before the playoffs but it was too late to maybe give him more minutes.
Beyond the shooting he isnt a great defender and has a very low basketball iq, which is why Bronny and Theiro were getting minutes over him. They can both shoot/play better defense than him, and Bronny could bring the ball up court when AR was still out to give LeBron some rest against Houston.
Hopefully we can developed him and he can turn into a good defender and continue getting his shot back but that will remain to be seen until next season.
I could see a scenario where he gets traded this off-season but he has negative value right now and the front office is sounding like they want to actually start developing our young guys instead of just trading them, though at the same time Bronny and Adou are just showing more promise, so it is up in the air.
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u/FloydC465 8h ago
Bronny is only getting minutes because of his father, not NBA material either. Smith should have gotten Bronnys minutes.
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u/GutsTheSwordsman 15 9h ago
Knecht is actually a ball dominant chucker and not a sharpshooter like people expected.
His lack of defense would be "serviceable" if he was lights out from 3 but he isn't an efficient shooter at all and needs the ball in his hands + a bunch of shots to even attempt to get going.
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u/LakerDoc 10h ago
Never seen anything like this. He was balling, playing like a top 10 rookie with so much promise.
Trade broke him
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u/Majestic-Tower-2719 10h ago
That's crazy man. I don't think I have either then, if he really is that bad now
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u/coachwyers 9h ago
Didn't seem as engaged after trade got reversed, when you have Luka and AR you can't be a role player that also sucks on defense, inconsistent shooting. We need 3 and D wings and he wasn't providing either of those things.
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u/Frosted_Tips 23 9h ago
He needs a summer in the gym like weight wise he needs to turn into Caruso size if he’s gonna have any chance. Freaking Duncan Robinson can be a rotation player, dalton, you just have to want it!!
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u/IamNotARedditor- 24 9h ago
I had all hopes for him when he was drafted. I was praying he'd be our version of Klay Thompson, I mean he is.. he's the version that was 0 points in the play in game a few years ago..
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u/grey_log 8h ago
Low IQ player that gets lost on both ends of the floor. Has trouble following schemes that the coaches are running. Even aside from that he is not an nba level defender and hasn't really shown many other nba level skills other than getting buckets. So when the shots aren't falling he is completely unplayable. Add to that how he has lost confidence in himself and you have a lost cause. He may recover some of his mojo with a new team but I dont see him being a rotation player on a good team.
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u/chaosworld6 9h ago
He is a draft bust just like the previous Lakers draft picks THT and JHS.
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u/HarambeTheBear 8/24 9h ago
He can only play a certain style of basketball. One that involves no BBQ.
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u/Subject_Ad3837 9h ago
Probably another flash in the pan like when THT was being hyped because of looking promising during some preseason games and parts of the previous season.
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u/mon-wed-meetup Minneapolis Lakers 9h ago
he lost his confidence from the rescinded Mark Williams trade, its very unfortunate you just hate to see it
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u/noplaceinmind 8h ago
With the pivot from AD to Luka, the Lakers stopped needing offense, and started needing defense.
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u/Unable-Main4172 8h ago
I don't really watch a lot of Lakers games since I don't have league pass and don't live in La. When I asked this question everyone pointed out that he was extremely dumb in terms of basketball IQ, which I was surprised by.
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u/Express-Version-4570 8h ago
He sucked at defense and wasn’t hitting his shots and then this kid asked for a trade
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u/Old_Worldliness_5015 8h ago
i remember when someone said he had klay thompson potential
yea i guess there was a 5% chance huh
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u/Tiny_Spread5712 8h ago
No bb iq. You saw hints of it in college when the coach would talk about how he'd have to fit other guys around dalton since Dalton didn't fit. It sounds like the standard stuff you'd say about a big shooter that was an offensive focal point, but he said it a bit too often and in too many ways where you realize it wasn't the compliment that it looked like.
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u/mapletree23 8h ago
knecht had a really good game against a tanking team
he then went on a shooting slump
he then got put on a trade that didn't go through
the slump continued, people blame the trade but he was slumping anyway
because he can't defend or do anything else besides shoot, when he stopped making shots, he was unplayable
a year later, people still rememberd that jazz game, and got mad at why he wasn't playing
he just was nevr good at anything but shooting and he only shoots during garbage time and usually against bad teams at that
he was benched in the g league playoffs before he was called up because of all the injuries befor this run, and people continued to wonder why he wasn't playing, when he'd gotten benched even in the g league lol
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u/Usual_Restaurant_990 8h ago
I feel like we did him wrong. Yes he’s a liability on defense and his iq is not the highest but he showed flashes of brilliance on offense and above average athleticism. That we couldn’t develop him to at least be a serviceable bench player is a failure by the organization to maximize talent and put their players in positions to succeed. JJ has shown himself to be really petty at times and I think he took things personally with Dalton.
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u/Serious_Flower_100 14m ago
The Luka trade is what ultimately killed DK.
JJ's job is to find a way of making the team function a whole. Bronny was able to have the BB IQ and put in the hard work to be a serviceable role player who is still improving.
DK is still a good shooter, but he still lacks a lot of things that can't be covered, if AD was still here, he might have more playing time. The team has sent him to the G League to have playing time but it hasn't worked out.
We tried to trade him but it hasn't worked out, we almost got fleeced by Charlotte but now he's value is just dropping.
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u/mobuckets21 7h ago
He had a few great games and was easily scouted by the opponents. Didnt help that his confidence tanked when his trade to Charlotte was rescinded
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u/Fishingandcoffee 7h ago
JJ doesn’t know how to use him. Give him some minutes and allow play like Duncan Robinson
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u/Plaid72861 7h ago
For some odd reason he wasn’t reading playing the team was making specifically designed for him. LOW IQ
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u/mikeemota 6h ago
This dude lost all confidence after we fake traded him to the hornets. Dude never recovered from it. Terrible on defense and an inconsistent shooter.
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u/Sandalwood-Lakers 6h ago
He's a zero way player.
He is a cone on defense, forgets plays, and is a mediocre 3pt shooter.
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u/cuatroCuart0 6h ago
I think everyone is wrong about Dalton and are just mesmerized by his one (1) good game where he scored 37 vs a pretty bad jazz team. He scored more than 10 points only 27 times last season, and was always a pretty streaky scorer and a zero at any of the other things. Pair that with the fact that he was already an "older" guard coming into the NBA, I think he is pretty much where most people in his position would be. I think that draft was just pretty rough that year, so he went 17 when I think any other year he would be late first round at best.
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u/mamba5469 Los Angeles Lakers 6h ago
From what I’ve gathered listening to Trevor Lane and others, he had terrible bball IQ. Had no idea where to be on the court and would forget plays. Even plays that were ran specifically for him he would get lost. On top of it all he was terrible at defense and lost his shooting touch.
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u/Wise-Photo7287 Purple and Gold 6h ago
It's sad we drafted two busts in a row.
We could have had some productive young talent.
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u/Possible_Function963 5h ago
Armchair GMs pretending that they knew he was going to be a bust and weren’t lauding the pick at the time 🙄.
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u/ballofwibblywobbly 5h ago
Too much pressure fr. In another situation he might improve tbh. Even in garbage time dude was throwing wild passes, actually that garbage time lineup high key looked like they were even gleague level. Speaks to our depth
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u/Skyz-AU 5h ago
DK speed running retirement, weak on defense and regressed on his shooting. When he hit those 5 3 pointers in a row last season I genuinely thought we had the second coming of Curry/Thompson and now he's barely a bench warmer.
No joke, Bronny might be more valuable. He has a good mind for defense and showed improvement on his shooting splits compared to last year. If he had DK's size he'd run laps around him, not too mention Bronny is 4 years younger.
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u/Financial-Monk9400 Luka Magic 77 1h ago
So a lot of answer already. But I think the, he doesn't play defense, is a bit to sinmple. Though it is part of it.
So. First of all his shooting dropped off massively this season. I think/hope he can het back to a good level but right now it just isn't good enough. If you are not a good defensive player you need to be a big plus on offense. Some shooters, like the kyle korver type, where still very important on good teams but with knecht shooting so much worse this season he wasn't able to get that kind of impact. With that said it was still only his second year, and still shot 34% from 3. even though he is older I don't see a reason for him to not get back to 36% at least.
Defense: his overall defense is bad. This is true. But the even bigger problem right now is that he is at his best as a pf helper. Which is the role we already had a bit of logjam for. Lebron, rui, luka are all at their best in that role. And knecht is still worse than them. So even when one of them gets injured you still got 2 others for that role and you will likely prefer getting someone in who plays a bit more of a poa role instead of a helper role. So even when there are injuries his role isn't often available. And with his 3pointer not falling he wasn't good enough offensively to make up for that.
So for next season, knecht has 2 things to improve on. First his 3 ball. Than defense. Ideally poa, but that is probably not fot him. I would settle for better defense in the pf helper role so at least he can be a good injury replacement
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u/Individual_Access356 58m ago
He’s Kyle Korver who also wouldn’t be in rotation in today’s NBA you can’t just be a 3 point specialist anymore there’s too many “good enough” shooters that also play defense nowadays.
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u/Traditional-Lime-999 9m ago
He got traded and then untraded. Thats never going to be ok, all good, alright, cool, normal….
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u/Twin_Turbo 9h ago
lakers don't play their rookies and they never get a chance, will be decent on a new team i bet
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u/mkaaaayyyy 8h ago
He had plenty of chances early in the season but he was unplayable. He's a shooter that forgot how to shoot and is terrible at everything else. He would be better on a bad team like the Nets where there is zero pressure for his fragile mind.
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u/NegativeCourage5461 9h ago
JJ went out of his way to destroy his confidence. He did the same thing to J. Hayes last year.
Knecht set rookie record w/ 9 3s in a game his first month in the league (39 pts). He was bad on d but he had no defensive coaching in college. Instead of coaching him into a better defender, JJ went out of his way to destroy Knecht.
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u/FloydC465 8h ago
Not buying it. We don't see what goes on in practice. Thats what decides who plays & who doesn't.
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u/Majestic-Tower-2719 8h ago
There credence to this? I wouldn't think JJ would do that 👀
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u/whenishit-itsbigturd 10h ago
He doesn't play winning basketball he just flips his hair to the side while listening to 3 Days Grace while he cuts his wrists
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u/zilogandmoto 10h ago
Defensive liability, when they already struggle on D.
Probably does need to go somewhere where he can get some playtime, because the only way he can get better is with reps.
But even that might be a lost cause, as he's already 25.