Former Tennessee Vols standout Dalton Knecht is getting some serious public attention from one NBA team
Former Tennessee Vols All-American Dalton Knecht is going to be a first-round pick in this month's NBA Draft. That appears to be a foregone conclusion. The only question is going to be how high of a pick and where he'll end up. Projections have been varying, but it appears he could go as high as […]
Former Tennessee Vols All-American Dalton Knecht is going to be a first-round pick in this month's NBA Draft. That appears to be a foregone conclusion. The only question is going to be how high of a pick and where he'll end up.
Projections have been varying, but it appears he could go as high as pick number 5 to the Detroit Pistons. At least, that is, if you believe the talking heads.
But there's another team out there that has a clear interest in the former Vol: the Portland Trailblazers. Portland brought Knecht in for a pre-draft workout, from which they posted some clips on Twitter/X.
Knecht, who played his high school ball in Henderson, Colorado and two years at Northern Colorado, met with the local Portland media after his workout and was pleased with how it went.
"It was good, I think I did good. It was always good seeing Coach (Chauncey) Billups. He's from Denver. So, it was cool just to be here in the facilities, and this was my second workout, so it was fun."
Knecht admitted that going to Tennessee and playing against SEC competition indeed helped his draft prospects.
“I put my name in the draft and talked to some agencies, and they told me I had to go to a higher market and play against better competition. That’s what I did, took a bet on myself, and it paid off pretty good.”
Portland holds the 7th overall pick of the draft, along with the 14th, 34th, and 40th picks. The Trailblazers, a staple in the playoffs for several years with Damian Lillard leading the way, finished the 2023-24 season with a 21-61 record, worst in the Western Conference.
The NBA is about finding scorers and special talents, and it's clear that Knecht brings a lot to the table as far as being able to put the ball in the basket in a number of ways – from the perimeter, mid-range, and attacking the basket. That's something that any team with a lottery pick, including Portland, could sorely use.
We'll find out if Knecht ends up in Portland on June 26, when the NBA Draft gets underway from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
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