Ahead of Wednesday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick is putting sharpshooter Dalton Knecht in the starting lineup in place of Cam Reddish, alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves.

Knecht was previously in the starting lineup due to an injury to Hachimura, but this move likely makes him an official part of the starting five going forward. The move felt like a full focus on the team’s already strong offensive identity rather than trying to transform the roster into a defensive-minded team.

Although it’s still a small sample, the Lakers have won when Knecht is in the starting lineup and playing alongside James and Davis. And Davis had a strong sense of why starting Knecht brings a different dynamic to the team, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:

“Spacing. He’s a shooter. He can shoot the basketball and was able to hit some free throws. We reset the screens and when you shoot the ball as well as he does, two people tend to go to him and we’re on Edge open, or if your guy helps me, we have another one that’s open in the corner or on the wing, so he brings a different dynamic to us whether it’s in the starting unit or in the second unit. But specifically with this one Starting unit he creates the distance for us, and if so If we get it to him, we know he’s going to kill the shot.”

However, the advanced statistics so far paint a different picture. The five-man lineup of James, Davis, Knecht, Reaves and Hachimura has a combined net rating of minus-11.3 in 30 minutes. And the trio of James, Davis and Knecht has a net rating of minus-8.4.

However, this is a case of the eye test and the numbers are very different, and there is hope that the two will eventually turn out to be more similar. The Lakers appear to be a better team when they can play five road games with their starting lineup, and perhaps the numbers will reflect that even with more playing time together.

Dalton Knecht shared JJ Redick’s message with him

Dalton Knecht reacted immediately to the starting lineup change. He finished the game with a team-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds on an efficient 8-for-15 shooting night in the win over the Spurs.

The Lakers picked up the win, 119-101, ending their three-game break. And after the game, Knecht talked about the news from JJ Redick and his team after he was moved back into the starting lineup.

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