Dalton Douglas Knecht is an American basketball small forward/shooting guard, for the Los Angeles Lakers, as of April 2025. He played collegiate basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers men’s basketball team. During his junior season with the Northern Colorado Bears, Knecht participated in 32 games and averaged 20.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. He shot 47.9% from the field, including 38.1% from deep. After joining the Tennessee Volunteers, he enhanced his reputation as one of the top collegiate players by averaging a career-high 21.7 points to go along with 4.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game, as per Basketball Reference.
Knecht was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers as the 17th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft. He made his NBA debut on October 22, 2024, against the Minnesota Timberwolves. As of April 29, 2025, Knecht has played a total of 78 games, scoring 706 points, making 66 assists, and grabbing 216 rebounds in the NBA regular season. (via NBA's official website)
Dalton Knecht’s collegiate basketball career and transfers
Dalton Knecht represented the Tennessee Volunteers during the 2023-24 season. However, his collegiate basketball career had a different beginning compared to others. After he graduated from high school, he revealed that he did not get any offers from any Division I colleges mostly due to his height of 6’3” and weight of 170 kg. Therefore, he joined Northeastern Junior College and spent his freshman and sophomore seasons from 2019-2021. It also helped him to grow his height to 6’6” and average 23.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game, as per Northeastern Plainsmen's official website. This helped him to try out his talent with the Northern Colorado Bears. Furthermore, he also got an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 shortened 2020/21 season.
Knecht spent his junior and senior seasons with the Northern Colorado Bears. Throughout these two seasons, he participated in 67 games and averaged 14.3 points along with 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. He shot 46.4% from the field, including 37.3% from deep. He was declared as a Second Team All-Big Sky member in 2023, as per Northern Colorado Bears' official website. After the 2022/23 season, he took advantage of his fight-year eligibility and transferred to the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. He helped his team in becoming the SEC regular season champion in 2024. He was declared as a Consensus first-team All-American, First Team All-SEC, SEC Newcomer of the Year, and SEC Player of the Year in 2024. (via Tennessee Volunteers' official website)
Dalton Knecht’s early basketball career
Dalton Knecht reportedly started his basketball career at Prairie View High School in Henderson, Colorado, United States. During his time there, he played varsity basketball for the school team, the Prairie View Thunderhawks. He was notable for being 5’8” as a sophomore but his height increased to 6’1” when he was a junior. Throughout his high school career, he competed in 47 games and averaged 17.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.4 blocks per game. He graduated from his high school in 2019.
FAQs on Dalton Knecht
A. Dalton Knecht’s age is 24 years old, as of April 2025.
A. Dalton Knecht was born on April 19, 2001, in Fargo, North Dakota, U.S.
A. Dalton Knecht previously played college basketball for the Northern Colorado Bears, the Northeastern Junior College, and the Tennessee Volunteers.
A. Dalton Knecht became Sec Newcomer of the Year in 2024.
A. Dalton Knecht wears jersey number 4 in the Los Angeles Lakers, as of April 2025.
