Dalton Knecht's rough first Lakers start made worse with jaw injury
On Wednesday night, Dalton Knecht was thrust into his first career start as the Los Angeles Lakers dealt with the absences of Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura. However, Knecht's starting lineup debut turned into a nightmare rather quickly. He finished the Lakers' 131-114 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies with just three points on 1-7 shooting in 27 minutes of play, and to make matters worse, he took a hit to the jaw with the game already out of reach, forcing him to exit prematurely due to injury.
Knecht would not return to the contest as the game was already decided at that point. The only positive thing from this is that the Lakers rookie appears to be okay, as Knecht did not have to undergo an X-ray to ensure the wellness of his jaw, as pointed out by Derek Parker of Sports Illustrated.
Expectations grew surrounding Knecht's ability to emerge as an immediate contributor for the Lakers. In the preseason, he flashed his ability to catch fire in a hurry from beyond the arc, but through the first eight games of his career, he hasn't quite found his rhythm yet while coming mostly off the bench.
He hasn't played too many minutes off the bench for the Lakers, and he has crossed the double-digit mark in scoring just twice for his career. Knecht scored 10 points in the Lakers' win over the Sacramento Kings, and then he tallied a career-high 18 while playing a mop-up role in their blowout defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Lakers have not been able to give Knecht many minutes to begin his career since Austin Reaves has been playing well, while he may be a bit too undersized as well as defensively-challenged to log consistent minutes at the three. Regardless, his three-point shooting should make him a staple of the team's rotation, although the team will now have to wait for the news of whether or not the 23-year-old will be able to suit up for their next game, a matchup against the struggling Philadelphia 76ers.
It might be time for JJ Redick to mix up the Lakers' rotation
JJ Redick might have given Lakers fans a sneak peek of what his rotation choices over the next few games will be during their loss to the Grizzlies on Wednesday night. D'Angelo Russell seems to be the one who will be most heavily affected. Redick called out Russell's "level of compete" as well as his "attention to detail", saying that his lack in both areas led to his benching.
But even with Russell's benching, the Lakers player who logged the most minutes off the bench was Cam Reddish, someone who was previously out of the rotation prior to their loss against the Detroit Pistons this past Monday.
Max Christie appears to be losing favor in the rotation as well. Christie has played fewer minutes than Dalton Knecht, Reddish, and Gabe Vincent over the past few games, and it seems as though the Lakers are phasing him out slowly from the rotation.
