The Lakers still have business to clean up before they get down to the legal 15-man limit, and Dalton Knecht keeps popping up as one of the names most likely to move. Los Angeles spent the offseason trying to work through trades, but the market hasn’t exactly been lining up for what the team has been offering.
That has left Knecht and Jarred Vanderbilt in the middle of the trade chatter all summer. As NBA reporter Evan Sidery put it, “The Lakers are actively shopping Dalton Knecht and Jarred Vanderbilt in trade talks. After gaining two second-round picks in the Deandre Ayton trade, Los Angeles could consolidate those assets in a deal immediately for a starting-caliber wing," NBA reporter Evan Sidery wrote.
Knecht’s situation is a little tricky. He’s still only 25, which gives him time to rebound, but his value around the league doesn’t appear especially strong right now.
Sean Deveney of Heavy.com summed that up this way: “Knecht showed some promise as a rookie but fell off in Year 2 and is now a contract filler in a potential trade. It has been surprising that no team has been willing to gamble on his upside-he is only 25,” Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney wrote.
One possible path out of that logjam comes in a proposed deal from Heavy.com’s Eli Gregorski. In that scenario, the Lakers would send Knecht and a second-round pick to the Los Angeles Clippers for Kris Dunn.
“Los Angeles Lakers receive: Kris Dunn. Los Angeles Clippers receive: Dalton Knecht and a second-round pick,” Gregorski wrote.
For the Lakers, that would mean adding Dunn to a backup role and bringing in a veteran guard with a long track record on defense. Dunn has made $41 million in his career, and the appeal is pretty straightforward: he’s an elite defender, and that’s the kind of thing teams can use. For Knecht, it would mean a fresh start after his rotational minutes dropped sharply last season.
If the Lakers are simply trying to turn Knecht’s contract into something more useful, this kind of swap could make sense for both sides.
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