The Lakers’ offseason shakeup has left them with a roster problem they still need to solve, and Dalton Knecht is suddenly sitting right in the middle of it.
Los Angeles is headed into the regular season with three new starters after moving on from LeBron James for the first time in almost a decade, but the bigger issue now is simple math. The Lakers currently have one more player than the regular-season limit allows, which means somebody is going to get squeezed out before training camp is over.
“There are, however, obvious holes. With 16 roster spots, the Lakers would need to get rid of at least one player, though they can carry as many as 20 through training camp in October," Heavy.com's Sean Deveney wrote.
That leaves a short list of possible casualties, and Knecht is one of the names drawing real attention. Lakers insider Jovan Buha pointed to him as one of three players most likely to be on the move.
“Clearly, the Lakers need to dump someone, and I think it's going to be one of three players," Lakers insider Jovan Buha said."It's going to either be Dalton Knecht, Jaden Hardy, or Bronny James."
Knecht’s rookie year started with plenty of promise. He flashed early, looked like he might carve out a real role, and gave the Lakers a glimpse of why he was worth watching. But a rescinded trade later in the season knocked that momentum off track, and he never really got it back.
Tyler Watts of Lake Show Life thinks the writing is already on the wall.
“If the Lakers decline his option, there is no reason to keep him beyond the trade deadline. They will either trade him or just buy him out. Knecht would be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, and Los Angeles would be limited in what they could pay to bring him back,” Watts wrote.
The problem for Knecht is fit as much as anything else. The Lakers are crowded on the wing, and that makes it tough for him to find a steady place in the rotation. For a player trying to build on a promising start, that kind of squeeze can be brutal.
Knecht is on an $18 million rookie contract, and if Los Angeles does move on, the hope is that another team gives him the runway he hasn’t been able to secure in purple and gold. For now, all he needs is one team willing to hand him that chance.
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