NBA insider reveals how the improved Lakers landed a top Rookie of the Year Candidate

After a quiet off-season, many didn't expect much from the Los Angeles Lakers, but 15 games into the year, they have emerged as one of the best teams in the league. Part of their success has been rookie sensation Dalton Knecht. Knecht has been a revelation, given his shooting prowess, including dropping 37 points by hitting nine threes in their NBA Cup game against the Utah Jazz.

After the Lakers ranked just 28th in three-point attempts per game last season, adding a sharpshooter in the draft was an overlooked addition for the Lakers. That raises the question of why he fell so far in the draft when he looks like he is among the most NBA-ready players in this rookie class.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst has a reason, and it's surprising but not shocking. Windhorst states that teams overlooked Knecht, given that he was a four-year college player and 23 years old during the draft process. To be fair, four-year players often don't turn out to be great lottery picks, with several misfires over the last 10 years.

Teams also may have just pigeonholed him into the mold of a college scorer who profiled as a 3-point specialist at the next level. But that clearly wasn't the case with Knecht having more offensive versatility and being more athletic than he was given credit for.

The Los Angeles Lakers have found a big draft steal in Dalton Knecht.

Teams passing on Knecht allowed the Lakers to get one of the best players in the draft with the 16th overall pick. That unforeseen development has helped Los Angeles get off to a much better start than last season.

While the Lakers are 26th in 3-point attempts, they are 9th in 3-point percentage, with Knecht drilling an outlandish 45% of his five 3-point attempts per game. His shooting nearly 10% above league average on a high volume has helped to transform their offense.

Last season, they ranked just 16th in offensive rating but they rank 5th this year. They will have to shore up their defense, which is currently bottom five in defensive rating. But if they can get back to league average, where they were last season, then they could ride their improved offense to home court advantage in the playoffs.

After being the seventh seed in the Western Conference last season, avoiding the play-in tournament and being able to play in Los Angeles for at least a round would be huge. It would dramatically improve their chances of a deep playoff run. While all of that can't be fully attributed to Knecht, the Lakers improvements have been partly due to them drafting him when others passed on him.