Dalton Knecht Discussion: The Struggle Is Real

Love his bounce back after recovering from the nixed trade.

 

We’re lucky that trade was rescinded. Nothing but upside with this kid. Sometimes I forget he’s a rook!

 

i'm glad to have knecht to develop, but time will tell about this part--mark williams is playing well

 

Mark would have been a monster with Luka. I have no doubt about that

 

Williams is 3x better than Hayes, think about that for a second. If he stays healthy, going back on that trade was a big mistake. We'll see...

 

"If he stays healthy" doing a lot of work there. Do you mean for his whole career? Meaning none of the red flags we saw come to fruition? Even in that case, it was still an overpay, IMO. Though admittedly I thought it gave us a real shot this year, in which case overpays tend to get overlooked.

 

He only played 36 games this season
And of course he's not playing today because of b2b .He isn't staying healthy just forget him and move on

 

OK I thought about it and it's hyperbole. 3x better?? ..... and ignores all the recent stats put up in Jaxson's thread including his defense, and the continuing improvements he keeps making. Quoting @tada

"First off, his opponent FG% is in elite category. Much better than "starting caliber" centers like Al Horford, Ivica Zubac, or Dereck Lively. His 2024-25 numbers are on par with Wemby and surprisingly even better than AD. And this is not a small sample size.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/opponent-shooting?PlayerPosition=C&StarterBench=Starters

That's on top of being an elite screen setter and elite lob threat on offense. His TRB% is slightly below average but with his strengths on offense/defense it's really nitpicking."

 

The problem with Williams would have been paying him the big bucks with his health uncertain

 

Yes, Williams would not have been a seamless fit defensively. He's a poor PnR defender, specifically terrible at drop coverage. And despite his block stats, he's a below average rim protector.

So basically the opposite of what JJ is trying to do defensively. A good team would have hunted him and picked us apart.

 

@Kenzo …. do better

 

Not to defend Kenzo's funny take, I imagine JJ knew how to combat that, having given an OK to the trade.

 

You guys are crazy and watch nothing but Lakers ball... if that
I'll get back to you in the playoffs when Hayes sits on the bench and we come with Vando, Bron, Rui or Morris as our starting C

 

Yes JJ would have adjusted...but at what cost?

In a vacuum, Williams is a superior player. He's a versatile scorer and a much better rebounder. Jaxson is a better fit though, and fit trumps talent for what we need from the center position. On offense, we need a good screener and roller to the basket. A vertical threat to draw in the defense and open up our shooters. On defense, we need a 5 with quick feet that can adequately keep up with our switching and stay in front of perimeter players. A strong rim protector and rebounder would be an added bonus.

A casual might point out the added scoring from Williams, but a center sharing the court with Lebron, Luka and Austin isn't going to average more than 10 points, mostly from dunks. So given that Williams wasn't going offer much added value over Jaxson on offense, I'm suspicious how much overall value we could have gotten from Williams. He's a better rebounder no doubt, but he's also a poor defender.

 

this part.

i'm not as sure that we couldn't make a williams type work, but there's a luka blueprint, and hayes fits it. what we need is another hayes, preferably a better one. but just a second one would suffice.

 

Dallas has an aging center with only 2 years left on a max contract that fits the bill. Wonder if they'll trade him to the Lakers since they're not going anywhere with the Kyrie injury

 

Mark Williams is an elite roller to the basket. He has the highest OBPM of any center (+3.4).

- Jarrett Allen (+3.0)
- Daniel Gafford (+2.6)
- Walker Kessler (+1.5)
- Dereck Lively II (+1.4)
- Onyeka Okongwu (+1.4)
- Jalen Duren (+1.3).

His ORB% (12.7), scoring rate (30 pp100), free-throw shooting (80%), assist rate (17.4), turnover rate (9.9), and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.92) is incredible for a center. The offensive rebounding is very good, but the rest are fantastic top percentile. No other rim runner has a positive ATO ratio and only Lively comes close in the assist rate which is a good barometer for decision making on rolls. His screen setting is top notch too, and with some coaching could be devastating.

Luka can make simpler centres work that just have vertical threats, but Mark Williams at his size, touch and scoring ability would be an absolute slam dunk with Luka, Lebron and Reaves offensively. He's also a great rebounder and was a good rim protector in college.

Hayes has him beat in his mobility and defensively that's just really useful for the way we play. But a healthy Mark Williams that can play 30 mins and 65 games a season is just a stellar player moving forward. I could see us going back for him in the summer for a direct Knecht and first swap only. But maybe he just won't ever be healthy with the red flags?

 

All that is true, but with the usage rate of our Big 3, I feel we won't be utilizing most of his strengths on the offensive end. Any non-shooting 5 will always be our 5th option (ie less than 10 pts) with our Big 3 + Rui. A good indicator is Lively who averaged 8 pts last year and 9 pts this year.

So we're talking maybe a 2-3 pt swing with the 2nd chance opportunities that his offensive rebounding can bring. That's a definite plus.

However, a defensive liability at the most important defensive position (center) outweighs any plus on the offensive end. It's precisely the reason why the Knicks can never become a serious contender with KAT at the 5. We need to send help to Luka already, imagine meeting the C Bags in Finals. They will hunt both Luka and Williams and pick us apart.