Dalton Knecht won’t be part of the Lakers’ summer league picture, and that absence says plenty.
Los Angeles released its California Classic and Las Vegas rosters last week, and Knecht’s name was nowhere to be found. For a player heading into his third year, skipping summer league wouldn’t normally raise eyebrows.
But in this case, the timing feels loaded. Knecht’s role already shrank in his second season, and the Lakers are reshaping the roster around Luka Doncic with LeBron James set to depart.
They’ve also added players who fit the same lane Knecht occupies.
One of them is Cameron Carr, the 24th overall pick, whom the Lakers drafted after he played at Tennessee before transferring to Baylor. Carr was a freshman on the same Tennessee team during Knecht’s SEC Player of the Year season, and now he’s in Los Angeles as another body at a position where Knecht is trying to hold his ground.
Knecht, meanwhile, has kept things quiet. Ahead of his basketball camp at UT, he told reporters he didn’t want to talk about the Lakers.
The Lakers selected Knecht 17th overall out of Tennessee in 2024, and his rookie year looked like a win. He averaged 9.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in 19.2 minutes over 78 games, starting 16 times, while shooting 46.1% from the field and 37.6% from deep. Even that season came with drama, though, as Los Angeles nearly sent him to Charlotte at the deadline before the deal fell apart when Mark Williams failed his physical.
The follow-up season never matched that first burst. Knecht played 54 games in 2025-26, started just once, and saw his minutes fall from 19.2 to 10.2 per game. His scoring dropped to 4.2 points, and he shot 45.5% from the field.
He’s still under contract for now. The Lakers already exercised his $4.2 million team option for 2026-27 back in October, and he also has a roughly $6.5 million option for 2027-28.
Even so, the direction of travel looks clear. Before February’s trade deadline, it was reported that the Lakers shopped Knecht and didn’t find a deal. The expectation is they’ll try again this summer, and Carr’s arrival only adds to the pressure.
While Knecht sits out, Tennessee will still have a strong summer league footprint. Seven former Vols are on NBA summer league rosters across five teams, with three of them on San Antonio’s roster. The 2026 NBA offseason showcase begins July 3 with the California Classic in San Francisco and Sacramento, followed by the Salt Lake City Summer League one day later and the main event in Las Vegas six days after that.
Here’s where the former Vols are set to open play:
Nate Ament, Milwaukee Bucks: Drafted No. 13 overall in the 2026 draft (via Miami). Not on the Bucks’ California Classic roster; expected to debut once Las Vegas Summer League opens July 9, pending the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade becoming official on July 6.
Ja'Kobi Gillespie, San Antonio Spurs: Drafted No. 42 overall in the 2026 draft. Opens California Classic play July 3 against Miami at Chase Center in San Francisco, 8 p.m. ET.
Chaz Lanier, Detroit Pistons: Drafted No. 37 overall in the 2025 draft. Opens Las Vegas Summer League on July 9 against Philadelphia at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, 5:30 p.m. ET.
Jahmai Mashack, Memphis Grizzlies: Drafted No. 59 overall in the 2025 draft (via Houston). Opens Salt Lake City Summer League on July 4 against Oklahoma City at Jon M.
Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, 3 p.m. ET.
Igor Miličić Jr., San Antonio Spurs: Signed as an undrafted free agent invite after a stint with the Delaware Blue Coats, the NBA G League affiliate of the Philadelphia 76ers. Opens California Classic play July 3 against Miami at Chase Center, 8 p.m. ET.
Felix Okpara, Washington Wizards: Drafted No. 46 overall in the 2026 draft (via Orlando). Opens Las Vegas Summer League on July 9 against Utah at Thomas & Mack Center, 9 p.m. ET.
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Milan Momcilovic has seen enough college basketball to know the sport has changed fast, and he thinks Kentucky fans should view the SEC through a wider lens than they might have a few years ago. After 102 games in college, he has watched realignment reshape the landscape, and his read is that the Big 12 and SEC have grown more alike because of all the player movement that has flowed through the transfer portal.
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Kentuckys New AD Hire Is Still On But The Price Just Changed
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Otega Oweh Already Gave Kentucky Fans A Reason To Watch OKC
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Oweh was taken with the 41st pick and should keep getting chances to show why he fits in OKCs style of play. The bigger question is what comes next once the games start to count, because summer league success does not always translate into steady regular-season minutes, and breaking into the Thunder rotation could be a tougher climb than his debut suggested. [Read more 🡒]