The Eastern Conference is poised to be more competitive than it has been in a very long time when the upcoming 2026-27 season arrives. There is at least one team among that group that will not delude themselves into believing they will be among the teams vying for the NBA Playoffs. It is with that franchise that the Los Angeles Lakers should find their best opportunity to trade Dalton Knecht.
Hello Chicago Bulls!
A long explanation should not be needed as to why trading Knecht is on the menu. The Lakers are over the roster limit at 16. Without a two-for-one deal, like the one Los Angeles may have had in a Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade, they may just end up shaking one player loose and calling it a day.
Knecht is as expendable as anyone on the current roster. That makes him the premier candidate to start the 2026-27 season anywhere but Los Angeles.
Rather than just declining his upcoming team option and waiving him, the Lakers should be searching hard for ways to recoup assets after this summer drained a great deal of them. Finding second-round trade value for Knecht would be a great way of doing that. The Bulls can provide as much.
Lakers can sell the Bulls on Dalton Knecht as a reclamation project
There was a time when Knecht's career was off to a promising start. Everyone remembers that. It is the point some Lakers onlookers will talk themselves into as to why the franchise should not give up on the young player just yet.
You do not get healthy in the place that made you sick in the first place. That is the argument for why Knecht needs a change of scenery to have any chance of reviving a long-term future in the NBA. The Lakers have been long overdue for a split with him.
The Bulls can afford to kick the tires on seeing if the pre-Mark Williams version of Knecht is still in there somewhere.
They have room for him on the roster. They have a trade exception that can absorb Knecht's $4.2 million contract. They have an opportunity for the scoring wing to earn playing time. Plus, most importantly for the Lakers, they have second-round picks to dispense.
Los Angeles is dealing from a point of weakness here. They should be at that point where even one second-round pick will be enough to move things along in a potential trade with Chicago. If the Lakers do not have another major move up their sleeve, this is a viable path to finalizing the 15-man roster for the upcoming season.
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