Just a few more hours before the Lakers return to action. Despite the level of expectations at a low bar, some big aspects of the team make them a must-watch affair. LeBron James and Bronny’s partnership being the common public demand there is some interest in another of the Lakers rookie, Dalton Knecht.

The Lakers are enjoying their practice with DJ playing live music and pairs performing with their old buddies. This is certainly not about LeBron and Bronny but Dalton and Austin Reaves. The newbie’s relationship with Reaves is not something that is built during the training camp. Why is that? Well turns out Dalton Knecht had some prior dynamic with AR which he revealed hours before the game.

Ahead of the Lakers preseason game with Timberwolves, Dalton spoke about Reaves with whom he’s been shooting drills during their training sessions. “He texted me throughout my college career,” the small forward stated. “Just give me some advice and stuff and then, you know, getting drafted here, get to go talk to him whenever I want to and ask some questions.”

Dalton further mentioned pairing up with him during practice and learning a thing or two from the shooting guard. “I learned from him. He’s been there, done it. So, like, you know, just learning from a bit like that’s going good,” he added.

Further highlighting Reaves’ stand-out qualities, Dalton said, “We know he’s a good shooter, but his playmaking and getting downhill, drawing fouls, just trying to learn that type of area that I can prove on.” Seems like coach JJ Redick has done a marvelous job by pairing them. Though he couldn’t impress the HC with his shooting skills much, there was something which appears to have worked for him in the training camp.

JJ Redick gives his view on Dalton Knecht’s performance during their training

Dalton is passionate about the game and even Redick could see it during their practice session. “He’s been he’s been fantastic. He’s got a heater. That’s what he showed me for first of all,” the coach told reporters. The former player did mention that his shots weren’t well but his competitiveness caught Redick’s attention.

“I told him after his level of compete today was really high,” Redick said. “He didn’t get down on himself about missing shots. He was super engaged, and it really showed in the last conditioning transition drill where, in the second part of it, he was challenged to be the rabbit and that competitive nature came out.”

Redick was thrilled to see Dalton still trying his best till the very end despite not reaching his target. The coach concluded by stating, “He’s got a high level of care.” This quality of his would certainly take him to greater heights in the league. Now that the coach is to some extent impressed with him, his biggest challenge is to leave a mark on the fans by showing his abilities in the upcoming preseason games.