The Los Angeles Lakers have 16 players on standard NBA contracts at the moment. This means that they'll need to trim the roster by one player before the start of the regular season.
The two Lakers players who have reportedly been shopped for a while now are Dalton Knecht and Jarred Vanderbilt (according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin).
The Lakers have been trying to trade Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht
The Lakers haven't had any luck finding trades for either player. In Vanderbilt's case, this isn't all too surprising. He's making $12.4 million this coming season, and he also has a player option for $13.3 million in 2027-28. That's an overpay for a player in Vanderbilt who shoots under 30% from three-point range for his career and has often struggled to stay healthy.
Vanderbilt is a great athlete on the wing, and when he's on the court, he can provide value defensively. But again, his inability to knock down shots is just a huge liability on most NBA teams in the modern landscape of the NBA, where three-point shooting is so important.
Speaking of three-point shooting, Knecht is much better at that skill. He's a career 36.8% from downtown so far in 132 games in his career.
Knecht has much more intrigue and trade value than Vanderbilt
It's surprising that the Lakers haven't been able to find a deal for Knecht, especially since he's still a young player with upside. He's a classic change-of-scenery guy who clearly needs to get out of Los Angeles. There's just too much baggage there after he was traded to the Hornets and then saw the trade rescinded. Things have never been the same, and it feels like Lakers GM Rob Pelinka has probably been looking for another trade since that happened.
I'm not sure why the Lakers wouldn't try to keep Knecht and rehabilitate things relationship-wise, but if McMenamin's reporting can be trusted, then it's probably the case that the Knecht ship has sailed, and the Lakers just feel that moving on from him is the best option.
They did just draft Cameron Carr, who is set up to fulfill a similar function on the wing as a sharpshooter that Knecht was originally designed to embody. Carr is more athletic than Knecht, too.
If I had to wager which of the Lakers' two trade candidates between Vanderbilt and Knecht would be traded before the season, I would definitely choose Knecht for all the reasons I mentioned above.
It's a shame his career in Los Angeles turned out the way it did, because Knecht would have been a good fit alongside Doncic moving forward if his development in this program had been smoother.
Stuff like this happens in the NBA, and you just have to roll with the punches in the case of Knecht. Hopefully he finds a good opportunity with his next squad.
In the case of the Lakers, hopefully Carr steps in and makes them forget that Knecht was ever here.
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