Feb. 5 is less than three weeks away. When 12 p.m. PT strikes on that dubious day of the NBA calendar, Dalton Knecht may just be booking a flight away from Hollywood. The Los Angeles Lakers really have few other ways to improve the roster.
Bobby Marks and Kevin Pelton recently touched on the matter in an article for ESPN discussing the one player to watch on all 30 NBA teams. For the Lakers, it was never going to be anyone but Knecht.
Pelton wrote, "The Lakers' challenge as the deadline approaches is finding ways to supplement their meager cache of draft picks. ... That makes a trade contingent -- in large part -- on another team vaulting on Knecht, ... who has yet to prove the kind of steal the Lakers thought they were getting."
The Lakers sophomore has not done much to make himself irreplaceable during his second season. The options are limited for Rob Pelinka and company heading into February. Any attempt at a fringe upgrade of the roster almost certainly needs to involve Knecht to some capacity.
Knecht-Lakers breakup should be a win-win for both sides
There is an inescapable feeling that Knecht will not have the best version of what his career could be in Los Angeles. The Lakers do not have the personnel to cover up his shortcomings. Meanwhile, Knecht is not perfectly cast as an off-ball shooter for the team either.
What the Lakers want out of their second-year scorer is a catch-and-shoot boost on the perimeter whenever JJ Redick tells him to get off the bench. Knecht has not delivered in that department during the 2025-26 NBA season.
With the value not being there, it makes his defensive deficiencies hard to overlook. That is how you get to a situation like this season where Knecht's minutes — and overall standing on the team — have slipped.
There is more effectiveness to be found in having the former Tennessee product serve as an overall scorer, not just a shooter. The Lakers just don't have reason to put him in that position. Thus, Knecht continues to look miscast on this roster.
Freeing their former first-round pick should help both sides get what they should really be looking for. The Lakers can kick the tires on a two-way support piece around their stars. The hope for Knecht would be finding a situation that is more readily willing to lean on his strengths as a pro.