NBA champion studio analyst throws shade at Tennessee basketball after the Lakers selected Dalton Knecht

It was a strange night for Tennessee Vols standout on Wednesday during the draft.  The program opened with another player being introduced as him .  Then, the expected top 10 pick slid all the way out of the draft lottery.

Things improved when he was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 17th overall pick.  The former Vol will be playing alongside Anthony Davis and almost assuredly LeBron James, whose son Bronny was also drafted by the Lakers with the 55th pick.  Several experts lauded the pick and tabbed the Lakers as one of the winners of the draft.

However, one analyst who wasn't quite as high on the pick was former Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce.  Pierce, a member of the 2007-08 NBA champion Celtics who is now an analyst of FS1's Undisputed, doesn't see Knecht as much more than a trade piece for a later move.

"It's solid, but you've got to understand I look at this as a potential trade piece," Pierce said. "He's a guy who have some value, he can help some teams.  I'm not sure he can help the Lakers based on what the Lakers [are] trying to get accomplished.  I think he was projected to be in the lottery, got picked at 17 by the Lakers, and you can possibly use him for a trade piece for another superstar."

However, it's what Pierce followed up with about the Tennessee Vols' program that is eyebrow raising.

"I like the pick, but translating what he did at Tennessee to what you've got to do for the Los Angeles Lakers, you go from a small-time school to the Laker s .  That's hard to be somebody who I'm thinking is going to contribute.  And not only it's the Lakers, but you've got LeBron.  So, you've got to ask yourself how much can this guy contribute right away?  Yeah, he's a little older, a little bit mature, I like it.  But for me, I think this is a good opportunity for the Lakers to explore another trade."

It's not hard to understand how Pierce is talking about the spotlight getting brighter going to the Lakers.  But with that being said, what basketball experience ISN'T small time when compared to stepping onto the roster of the seventeen-time NBA champions?  UConn is small time compared to that.  UNC and Duke are small time.  Everyone is small time by comparison.  It's a big leap for any college player to join a storied NBA franchise with sky-high expectations and massive media coverage.

Tennessee absolutely is not small time in the college basketball universe.  The defending regular season champions of what turned out to perhaps be the best conference in America last season should not be considered small time after the last decade under Rick Barnes.

It was an odd choice of words, and quite frankly an incorrect one, from Pierce, at least in the spectrum of college basketball.

Related: Rick Barnes drops quote that Vols fans will love after Tennessee's win against Texas A&M in College World Series finals