After getting released by the Los Angeles Lakers so they could finalize the roster ahead of the 2026-27 season, Dalton Knecht has landed on his feet. More than that, a team will real competitive aspirations is taking a shot on him. The New York Knicks are bringing in the former Laker.
Shams Charania reported Knecht is signing a two-way deal to join the defending NBA champions. Michael Scotto followed up by revealing the Knicks will get rid of Kevin McCullar Jr. to make room for the Lakers' first-round pick from 2024. This is about to get interesting.
Instead of landing with a rebuilding team where Knecht could have made a push for playing time and on-ball touches, he opted to join a contender. That is exactly what the Lakers want to be, and they deemed Dalton did not fit that vision. Granted, things are a little bit different in New York.
Knecht is not occupying a main roster spot for the Knicks like he would have been for the Lakers. New York gets to take a buy-low shot on someone who once showed genuine promise in the NBA. The results of that coming experiment can only create two very polarizing reactions for Los Angeles regarding the decision to let their former sharpshooter walk.
Knicks aim to do what the Lakers could not with Dalton Knecht
The Lakers wanted Knecht to become an off-ball scorer next to the stars of their team. That never truly materialized. During his time in Los Angeles, many chalked that up to him not really being fitted for that specific role.
Knecht tended to get more offensive feel when he was afforded opportunities to create for himself as well as line up shots off the catch. When he could not get his rhythm from just the latter, and could not contribute as a floor spacer, JJ Redick started playing him less and less.
Eventually, Knecht became an afterthought in Los Angeles. A bad defender, bad processor of the game, unmotivated, and not contributing at all. There may as well have been glue on his bench seat by the end of his stint with the Lakers.
New York will look to challenge the assessments that were made of Knecht's game in Los Angeles. Perhaps there is something the Lakers overlooked in trying to get DK fitted for a supportive role around the stars. That is what the Knicks will be telling themselves with the calculated risk here.
If New York is proven right, and Knecht blossoms into a real contributor, it will be a horrid look on Los Angeles' developmental practices.
Dalton Knecht flaming out in New York would prove Los Angeles right
On the other hand, the Knicks could easily find themselves eventually coming to the same conclusion the Lakers did: Knecht will not meaningfully help winning basketball. If that is the case, Los Angeles can be at peace with their decision to move on.
It matters a ton here that both the Knicks and Lakers are two teams for whom a championship is the immediate goal. Knecht gets thrust into a similar environment, just with lower expectations. If he cannot succeed under those elements that will tell Los Angeles all they needed to know.
Even if Knecht fails in New York and then finds success for a lesser team elsewhere, the Lakers will still feel vindicated in their choices. Their goal is to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy. If Knecht was never going to help with that then they never had a need to keep him in Los Angeles.
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