The Lakers still need to clear one more roster spot before training camp wraps, and Dalton Knecht is the name that keeps surfacing as the likely odd man out.
Los Angeles is sitting one player over the NBA limit, which means a cut or a trade has to happen. And based on everything that has been said about Knecht this preseason, the outlook has gone from shaky to rough. California Post’s Khobi Price reported, “Not a good sign for Knecht, whom multiple rival executives expect to be the odd man out as the Lakers look to trim their roster from 16 players on standard NBA deals to the league maximum of 15,"
The cleanest path for Knecht to stay in the fold would be a trade. A consolidation move could get the Lakers back down to 15 without simply waiving someone, though that would require the right deal to materialize.
“My understanding is a consolidation trade. Obviously, it would be two-for-one, three-for-one, or three-for-two is a little more complicated," Lakers insider Jovan Buha said."So I think the most straightforward one would be two-for-one…And depending on the configuration of the trade, it could be a version of two of the back-end guys, let's say Dalton Knecht and Jaden Hardy, for a backup center."
If that doesn’t happen, the expectation is that Knecht gets waived, and that’s where things get especially uncertain. Buha said, “He's in a tough spot because most rosters are full, or actually, over-full," Buha said."I just don't see a realistic landing spot where someone is gonna claim him off waivers or trade for him solo."
That would leave Knecht searching for a new opportunity after a preseason that has not broken his way. The former first-round pick still has a selling point: he can shoot it.
If a team values that skill and has room to give him a real chance, he could still carve out a place. Right now, though, the path looks narrow.
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