In the first round of the NBA draft, who would be lucky no.17 was the cliffhanger. Because the 17th pick was with the Los Angeles Lakers, whose biggest star’s son is in the 2024 draft. However, instead of Bronny James, the Lakers utilized their first round pick to select Dalton Knecht. And honestly, Lakers Nation is not disappointed. The Tennessee guard is being touted as a much-needed upgrade to the team already who will maximize LeBron James’ and Anthony Davis’ championship windows.

There’s plenty of reason to believe that LeBron isn’t unhappy. He’s made it clearer that he’d be happy no matter where Bronny ends up. But what really solidified fans’ beliefs is Bron’s seal of approval for Knecht.

LeBron James showed eagerness for Tennessee guard

Back in March, interviewers caught up with James in the Lakers’ locker room. Amid an intense season, he confirmed that he kept up with the NCAA tournament because of certain college stars. When his fave Zach Edey’s Boilermakers played against the Vols in the Elite Eight, Dalton Knecht caught his eye.

“You’re going to watch Purdue because of Zach Edey,” James said back then. “Because he’s a great player. We watched that Purdue-Tennessee game because of Zach Edey and Knecht. Players, depending on who they are, will drive the attention when it comes to [television] viewership.”

Knecht had only one season with the Volunteers, ending up losing to Purdue, and it was enough to catch James’ attention in the tournament. The following month, Bronny James declared for the draft after a trying 2023 for the entire family.

He had been medically cleared and went to workouts with the Lakers and Suns.Before it was likely that the Lakers would use their 17th pick on him. There was chatter that LeBron would leave with another team too to play alongside Bronny. It however went differently.

The team ended up picking Knecht which elated fans. Bronny is still waiting to be picked and there’s a chance the Lakers could take him in the second round if another team hasn’t already. The Lakers still have the no.25 pick in the second round (55th overall) on Thursday. This could play into whether The King would take his $51.4 million player option before the June 29 deadline. Speculation is rife though that Bron would stay in LA and be Knecht’s teammate.

Dalton Knecht prematurely impresses Lakers fans

Knecht started his college career at Northeastern Junior College, where he grew physically and skill-wise, earning enough credit to transfer to Northern Colorado. He transferred to Tennessee for the 2023-24 season and earned SEC Player of the Week in the first week with the Vols. He’d end his season as the SEC Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.

When James made that comment, Knecht had come off the bench with a team-high 37 points on 14-of-31 shooting in the tournament. At Tennessee alone, he led the SEC with 21.7 PPG, the eighth best in the country. In three D1 seasons, he averaged 16.9 PPG in 103 games. With those numbers, he was projected as a top 10 pick, top 15 at most.

But Lakers fans are thrilled that he fell just within range of No. 17 to end up with the Lakers. This is being dubbed as a ‘steal’ for the Lakers who also have a new coach. Some see that JJ Redick is the best guy to develop Knecht’s scoring-focused game. Now we’d have to wait till the weekend to know if Knecht will play alongside one, two or no James.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.