The Knicks have emerged as one of the teams showing interest in free agent wing Dalton Knecht, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Begley added that the former first-round pick is still eligible to sign a two-way contract.
That wrinkle matters because New York’s two-way slots are already spoken for. The Knicks currently have Kevin McCullar Jr., Tyler Nickel and Jaden Akins on two-way deals, while Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report and The Stein Line had previously reported that Sacramento, Minnesota and Toronto were believed to be weighing Knecht for a possible two-way opening. Those three clubs do have room on their two-way lists.
Knecht, the No. 17 pick in the 2024 draft, put together a solid rookie year with the Lakers in 2024/25. He appeared in 78 games, averaging 9.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per night while shooting .461 from the field, .376 from three and .762 at the line.
His role shrank sharply in his second season. In 54 games, Knecht averaged 4.2 points and 1.4 rebounds over 10.2 minutes a game, with his shooting line dipping to .455/.342/.727.
Los Angeles waived Knecht on Monday after running into a roster crunch. The team was unable to find a trade for the 25-year-old small forward, so it chose to keep his $4.2MM salary on the books as dead money instead.
If New York does bring Knecht in on a two-way deal, the expectation would be that Nickel would be the one to lose his spot, since he was just taken 47th overall in June’s draft.
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