"Who let the Lakers get this guy dawg" - NBA fans stunned after Dalton Knecht smokes Suns in clutch with 20 straight points

LA Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht had an offensive explosion late in their 128-122 overtime victory over the Phoenix Suns in their preseason game on Thursday, leaving NBA fans in utter amazement.

The 17th overall pick in this year's NBA Draft out of Tennessee, Knecht scored 20 straight points — seven straight to end the regulation and scoring the first 13 points to begin OT — to tow the Lakers to the hard-earned win. He finished the game with 35 points to share game-high honors with All-Star teammate Anthony Davis.

NBA fans praised the Lakers rookie's performance. Below are what some of them wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

One fan highlighted how fortunate the Lakers were to land a player like Knecht in the middle of the first round:

"Who let the lakers get this guy dawg."

"'Steal of the draft,' another asserted."

One user compared him to an Eastern Conference star guard:

"Lakers Tyrese Maxey."

Another surprised fan said:

"How tf did Dalton slide to the Lakers??"

Other comments, meanwhile. could not help but compare Dalton Knecht to other players.

"This is who fans thought Austin Reaves was," one said.

"Better than Klay Thompson," another added.

Rookie of the Year talk was also brought up, with one saying:

"Best rookie in the nba."

Prior to his 35-point explosion on Thursday, Dalton Knecht was already steady in preseason play for the Lakers (2-3), averaging 13.8 points, second behind Anthony Davis (17.3 ppg), to go along with 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 25 minutes in the four previous games.

Dalton Knecht considers it a blessing to land with the LA Lakers

Dalton Knecht dropped all the way to 17th in this year’s NBA Draft after a strong final year at Tennessee. However, he views this as a positive turn of events since it landed him with the LA Lakers, which he considers a "blessing in disguise."

He shared this after spending time in training with the Lakers, highlighting how the opportunity to play alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis and learn from them is already a remarkable experience in itself.

Knecht said (via SB Nation):

“I think it’s a blessing in disguise. I get to learn from one of the greatest basketball players to ever play in [LeBron James] and also have [Anthony Davis] down there. It’s been good. I think it’s really a blessing I get to be part of this and watch greatness.”

During college, Dalton Knecht played for both Northern Colorado and Tennessee. In his final season with the Volunteers, he averaged 21.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists, earning recognition as a consensus first-team All-American.

He was selected in the middle of the first round of the NBA Draft by the Lakers, a team that had an up-and-down season last year, culminating in a first-round playoff exit.