As expected, Dalton Knecht received his invite to the NBA Combine on Friday night, joining 77 other prospects on the invite list. Per ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Knecht is viewed as a top ten prospect in this class, according to a memo sent out by the NBA.
Not many saw this rise coming from Knecht at this time last year. The transfer from Northern Colorado saw a big step up in competition level coming to the SEC, but that didn’t bother him one bit. He entered the program and was instantly the alpha scorer for the Volunteers, putting up 21.7 points per game.
The 6-6 guard scored 30+ points on eight separate occasions. Simply put, he was the offense for Rick Barnes. That production made him the clear choice to be named the SEC’s Player of the Year. He would go on to finish second to Zach Edey for the Wooden Award.
Knecht ended up shooting 39.7 percent from three-point range, which is the main appeal for NBA teams. However, he showed plenty of ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the rim as well.
Looking around the mock draft world, Knecht’s landing spot has been projected as high as the top five and as low as 15th.
CBS Sports has him going 11th overall to the Bulls. The Ringer has Knecht coming off the board 4th overall to the Pistons. NBADraft.net has him going 3rd overall to the Hornets.
We’ll likely have a better idea of the top end pecking order following the Combine, which is set to begin next weekend (May 12th) and run all through the next week. The NBA Draft will take place on June 26th and June 27th, moving to a two-night format this year.
