The Los Angeles Lakers currently have 16 players on the roster with the main fireworks of the offseason having passed. That will have to come down to 15 before opening night. So, who is unlucky number 16? Dalton Knecht, right? Search your feelings, you know it to be true.
There has been plenty of talk about chasing a starting forward in Los Angeles. Most are hoping there can be a trade that sends out multiple players for one upgrade that helps the Lakers' roster problem get eliminated in the process. What happens if Rob Pelinka cannot orchestrate that type of deal?
Well, for starters, they would still need to figure out the starting forward internally. They would also need to weigh their options for trimming the roster from 16 to 15.
Unless the Lakers are pursuing a waive-and-stretch with Jarred Vanderbilt, Knecht sticks out as the player who is without a seat for this game of musical chairs in Los Angeles. That would mean the former first-round pick from 2024 would need to simply be discarded via trade or a flat-out release.
Exiling Dalton Knecht by offseason's end may be a necessary Lakers evil
Everyone else on the current Lakers roster is either more proven than Knecht, has more intriguing upside, or is just downright better than him. Truly, go up and down the group of players in Los Angeles and find someone who does not fit one of those descriptors.
That puts Knecht at the bottom of the Lakers roster and makes him primed to be moved. So, what does that look like?
Firstly, the Lakers will need to figure out what type of value Knecht holds on his own. Ideally, the franchise should be exhausting every trade avenue before considering the possibility of just outright releasing him to free agency.
If there is a team out there with an open roster spot and willing to spend a second-round pick on the opportunity to revive Knecht's fading potential, the Lakers should take it. After an uneventful second season in the NBA, that might be the best Los Angeles can get for their once-exciting prospect.
It has been a true fall from grace for a player who was featured in the Rising Stars Challenge during his rookie year. Knecht went from being hyped up as a steal to rarely leaving the bench for meaningful minutes. Unfortunately for the Lakers, that is just where the path has taken them in his journey.
Without finding a two-for-one trade that trims the roster and lands a starter in Los Angeles, the franchise may just be forced to give up on Knecht one way or another here. That is the less glamorous (but needed) solution in those circumstances.
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