The Los Angeles Lakers are less than a week away from tipping off the regular season against the Golden State Warriors. However, they’ll be without superstar LeBron James, who is recovering from an injury that is expected to keep him sidelined until the middle of November.
“I'm told that the Lakers and LeBron are looking at around mid-November as a realistic debut for him," ESPN’s Shams Charania said. "... A source told me tonight that LeBron will be taking a patient approach with this rehab from nerve injury. The ramp-up process for this will be a lot of basketball shape conditioning work."
With James out, an opportunity has opened up for a second-year Laker to prove he belongs in the rotation. Dalton Knecht, who appeared to be on the outside looking in, has been given a second chance thanks to the team’s injury situation.
“At the very least, Knecht must understand the following: this stretch without James is his time to prove himself. If he does not make the most of it, his Lakers future will be bleak,” Lake Show Life’s Syvatoslav Rovenchuk wrote.
Knecht is coming off an up-and-down rookie season, but during training camp, he impressed by outperforming some of the team’s top scorers. In fact, he led all players in scrimmage scoring.
“JJ Redick says Dalton Knecht has had the best offensive training camp out of any Lakers player - they track the data and he’s scored 42 points more than any other teammate in live play and at about a 60% shooting clip. But Redick says Knecht’s ceiling will be up to his defense,” Lakers insider Dave McMenamin posted.
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For Knecht, this is a pivotal stretch. He’s already on thin ice when it comes to cracking the rotation, and this could be his best shot to secure a meaningful role.
He’s performed well during camp and preseason. Now, the challenge will be translating that success to the regular season.