Dalton Knecht is HIM! When the former Tennessee star became available to draft at number 17, Rob Pelinka and his crew could not believe their luck. Sure enough, the rookie has proven throughout the preseason why everyone projected him to be a lottery pick. And if there were any doubters left, there won’t be after tonight because Knecht played his best game so far, which even overshadowed Anthony Davis’ dominant performance.

With the Lakers down by three points in the final seconds, it looked like they were heading toward another loss. But Knecht had different plans. Despite being guarded by 7’3 Bol Bol, the rookie pulled up from deep and swished the shot to send the game to overtime. And he was not done. In overtime, he took over once again draining three after three from every spot and scoring the first 13 points for his team. Sure enough, Knecht’s heroic effort led his team to victory over the Suns.

Even Anthony Davis, who had a 35-point double-double himself, was left in awe of the rookie’s scoring outburst. While Knecht made one tough shot after another, AD, LeBron, and the rest of the Lakers bench couldn’t believe their eyes and got more hyped after every made basket.

And when the final whistle blew, Knecht had scored as many points as Davis, along with seven rebounds. While tonight was a one-of-a-kind performance from him, the rookie has been dominant throughout the preseason. In his previous four appearances, he had scored a combined 55 points. But what he did tonight might have officially put him on the map.

LeBron James and JJ Redick join the NBA World in praising Dalton Knecht’s ‘Supernatural’ performance

As expected, fans could not contain their excitement after what they saw from Knecht and flooded the internet with massive praise. One netizen wrote, “Dalton Knecht is smooth criminal, out there smokin sh*t.” Meanwhile, another fan deemed him the “Steal of the Draft.” Even Rob Pelinka revealed recently that Knecht’s availability so low in the draft was a big surprise, “We would’ve never imagined a player as skilled and sort of perfect for our needs would be there for us as Dalton Knecht. We had him as a top-10 player unanimously across our scouting boards.”

While one fan renamed him “DALTON MF KNECHT” another claimed, “Dalton Knecht might be Lakers best shooter.” Although it sounds like a very bold claim, Knecht has shown that he is an elite shooter from deep range. Even tonight, he went 8 of 13 from the three-point line and was unstoppable. He has been a great shooter since college as he had a career three-point efficiency of 38.3%. So, he could very well turn into the Lakers’ best shooter if he continues to play like this.

Well, fans were not the only ones impressed with Knecht’s performance. Even his teammate LeBron James turned into a fan and posted a story on IG saying, “Cannon!!!!!!! That boy COLD!!!” And Head coach JJ Redick, who previously deemed Knecht as a ‘Top 1% shooter’ stood by his claim after watching him ball out tonight, “Reggie [Miller] and I were talking before the game and he was like, ‘It’s high praise to say he’s in the top 1% of shooters…’ Well, nah, he’s in the top 1%… That was supernatural what he just did.”

With Pelinka not making any big moves this off season, the rapid rise of Dalton Knecht could do wonders for the Lakers as he is showing that even though he is a rookie, he might be ready to play at the big stage. And they could use his clutch shooting to boost their title aspirations. Do you agree?