It's been a tough two years for Dalton Knecht with the Los Angeles Lakers. He turned heads during the first few months of his rookie season in 2024-25, but a failed mid-season trade set the stage for what's become a tenure of stagnation and regression.
Though Knecht shoulders his share of the blame for what's gone wrong, if the Lakers don't have a role for him, then they should make him the player they move to trim the roster to 15. Thankfully for the former Tennessee Volunteers star, it may be coming to pass.
Knecht hasn't shown enough improvement on the defensive end of the floor to receive consistent minutes. He's also coming off of a down season from a shooting perspective. As such, with the Lakers sitting at 16 players on the current roster, that's perhaps inevitably made him a trade candidate—and the front office is reportedly active.
According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the Lakers had the option to complete a two-for-one trade for Buddy Hield but ultimately walked away.
"Sources say the Lakers could've made a '2-for-1 move' to trade for Hield, but the organization ultimately elected against doing so. Although the exact reasoning for this was not provided, one can assume the main reason for this is due to Los Angeles likely needing to include a second-round pick to move two contracts."
Though Siegel doesn't directly name Knecht, one can't help but wonder if he was a candidate to be moved in such a scenario. If nothing else, the report is a reminder that a fresh start could soon arrive.
Dalton Knecht needs a chance to start over after tumultuous Lakers run
Entering December of 2024, Knecht looked the part of a potential starter for the Lakers. He'd scored at least 20 points in four of his previous seven games. That includes a 37-point eruption against the Utah Jazz and a 27-point showing against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Through November, Knecht had recorded averages of 12.2 points and 2.5 three-point field goals made in 23.7 minutes per game on .497/.439/.889 shooting—a captivating 19-game sample size.
Unfortunately, Knecht hasn't looked like the same player since. His minutes were cut shortly thereafter and he ultimately played 17.7 minutes per contest across his final 59 appearances as a rookie. Somehow, that wasn't the nail in the proverbial coffin.
A strong case can be made that such a development arrived when the Lakers traded Knecht to the Charlotte Hornets for Mark Williams, only to back out of the trade due to a failed physical. As a result, they ultimately took Knecht back—but perhaps the damage had been done.
Dalton Knecht and the Lakers would both benefit from starting over
Superhuman as we may want athletes to be, they are still human, indeed. For Knecht, he'd gone from going off as a scorer and having franchise player Anthony Davis publicly encouraging him to shoot more to being traded in the span of three months—all within his rookie season.
Yes, Knecht should've committed to improving on defense and refining his catch-and-shoot skills. And yes, those changes could've made a difference. This is simply a two-way street.
In a different situation, perhaps Knecht could get back to playing how he prefers and develop other areas of his game while still reaping the benefits of a role that suits him. Perhaps not. Either way, the Lakers don't appear to be the team that's best suited to help Knecht develop into the player he briefly looked destined to become.
One can only hope that training camp either positions Knecht to prove the skeptics wrong in Los Angeles or gives Rob Pelinka the closure he needs to finally move on.
Add us as a preferred source on Google