The Charlotte Hornets could have a familiar name sitting right there for the taking.
Dalton Knecht, a former first-round pick who was recently released by the Los Angeles Lakers, is now a free agent and could be the kind of low-cost gamble Charlotte should consider as it gears up for the 2026-27 NBA season. The Hornets have had a busy offseason, headlined by the trade of former star guard LaMelo Ball, and they enter the year feeling good about the depth on their roster. Even so, there is still room to add another weapon.
Charlotte wants back in the playoffs this season, and more shooting is never a bad place to start.
Knecht’s NBA path has been uneven, but the upside is still easy to see. He opened his Lakers stint on a promising note, starting eight games and putting up 11.9 points per game.
For a stretch, fans in Los Angeles believed he might fit into the team’s long-term rotation plans. Then things cooled off, and his grip on a roster spot began to slip.
The connection to Charlotte runs deeper than just a possible free-agent fit. The Hornets were involved in the trade deadline deal that would have sent former center Mark Williams to Los Angeles and brought Knecht to Charlotte, only for the Lakers to back out after reviewing Williams’ medicals. After that, Knecht never really found his footing again in Los Angeles, and the team kept looking for a trade that never came together.
That history is part of why the Hornets make sense here. Charlotte had interest in Knecht once already, and the club also wanted to draft him before the Lakers did. Now the price tag should be far lower, and the appeal is obvious: a 25-year-old former first-rounder with shooting ability and something to prove.
For a team looking to deepen its roster without making a major commitment, Knecht fits the profile. If a fresh start unlocks the player he was projected to be, the Hornets could end up with a worthwhile addition at very little cost.
In Other News...
Hornets May Have Another Frontcourt Option Showing Up Fast
Hannes Steinbach keeps showing up like he belongs in the conversation, and for the Hornets that is becoming more than a preseason curiosity. The rookie, taken 14th overall, has already put together strong showings in Summer League and carried that form into exhibition play, giving Charlotte another frontcourt name to track as it sorts through its options.
Against Memphis, Steinbach again gave the Hornets a useful glimpse of what he can bring, and coach Charles Lee came away focusing less on the box score than on the way the rookie approaches the job. Even in a loss, Charlotte has reason to keep leaning into that kind of production, especially if his steady habits continue to translate as the games start to matter. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Enter A New Era With One Big Question Hanging Over It
Charlotte spent the offseason reshaping its roster in a major way, moving on from LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges and Tre Mann while bringing in Naz Reid, Grayson Allen and Dennis Schroder. It is the kind of turnover that signals more than a tweak. The Hornets are clearly trying to reset the direction of the franchise, and the pieces they added suggest a new look built around size, shooting and a different tempo.
The early projection is that this group could settle into a respectable middle ground while it figures itself out, but the bigger story is how the lineup comes together once the season starts. A new starting five centered around Coby White, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Reid and Moussa Diabate has a very different feel from what Charlotte put on the floor a year ago, and the real question is whether that mix can develop quickly enough to keep the Hornets competitive while the new era takes shape. [Read more 🡒]
Hornets Just Made Brandon Miller Their Next Franchise Centerpiece
Brandon Millers rise in Charlotte took another major step this week, with the Hornets locking him in on a long-term deal that signals just how quickly the organization has shifted its future toward him. After a career-best season, Miller has already shown enough as a scoring option to make the front office comfortable building around his development, even as he works back from shoulder surgery.
The timing matters, too, because Charlotte is no longer treating him as just one part of the core. With LaMelo Ball traded, Miller now sits at the center of the franchises direction, and the extension reinforces the idea that the Hornets view him as the player most likely to carry them into their next era. What comes next is less about promise and more about how soon he can fully assume that role. [Read more 🡒]