The Lakers made their opening-night roster move by waiving Dalton Knecht, the third-year guard who had long been on shaky ground after losing his place in JJ Redick’s rotation. Los Angeles had to trim its roster to the league maximum of 15 standard contracts by Monday at 5 p.m. EST, and Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Knecht was the player let go.
Knecht’s situation had been trending this way for a while. The No. 17 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft was already coming off a rookie season that featured trade chatter, including a deal that would have sent him to the Charlotte Hornets at the 2024-25 deadline before the Lakers backed out because of concerns about Mark Williams’ health. Once he returned to Los Angeles, he never found his way back into Redick’s regular mix.
That was especially evident after a strong start to his rookie year faded and his preseason role shrank. Redick had already said Knecht was in a difficult spot because of the wings the team added in the offseason, along with the players already on the roster. He played in four of the Lakers’ five preseason games, but the numbers didn’t help his case: 2.8 points, 1.2 rebounds, 25 percent shooting from the field and 14.3 percent from 3-point range.
Knecht was also absent from Lakers practice on Monday afternoon, along with Bronny James. Redick said both were excused because they were feeling under the weather.
His production last season told the rest of the story. Knecht appeared in 54 games for the Lakers, starting one, while averaging a little over 10 minutes per game. That was a sharp drop from his rookie campaign, when he played in 78 games, made 16 starts and popped off early with four 20-point outings in the first month and a half, including a career-high 37 in a road win over the Utah Jazz.
What comes next is now the open question. Knecht is still only in his third season, which means he remains eligible for a two-way contract. The league has already seen enough to know the talent is there; the issue is whether he can string it together again, and whether another team decides he’s worth a shot.
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