Dalton Knecht’s fit with the Lakers has never looked comfortable, and now the conversation around him is shifting from patience to a possible move elsewhere.
The second-year guard asked for a trade in late January, but nothing came together at the time. That delay only pushed back what already seemed like an inevitable split, and Lakers insider Jovan Buha believes there are a few teams that make more sense for Knecht than Los Angeles ever did.
“In a macro-sense, I think there’s like a fit element here where Dalton needs to be on like a Brooklyn, a Washington, or a Memphis, or one of the teams where he could just play his game and figure out his skill set and have freedom to roam and figure things out,” Buha said Monday.
“That’s not the Lakers, that’s not the fish bowl of the Lakers team that’s trying to win a championship. His role has been to spot up and make threes, and he’s just not doing that at a high level.”
Buha named the Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, and Memphis Grizzlies as possible landing spots for the former first-round pick. Of that group, the Grizzlies and Nets would seem to offer the clearest path for Knecht, since both rosters are worse than Washington’s and could give him a better chance to grow into a real NBA contributor.
Knecht’s numbers with the Lakers back up the idea that the fit has been shaky. He averaged 4.2 points per game while shooting 45.5% from the field and 34.2% from three.
For a player trying to carve out a role, that kind of environment has been tough to navigate. The Lakers are built around championship expectations every year, and that pressure has not helped Knecht’s development.
Los Angeles has already made Knecht available in trade talks this summer, and the team has also been linked to 6-foot-9 Nets forward Zhaire Williams as a possible frontcourt upgrade. That opens the door for a deal that could send Knecht to Brooklyn in a swap that fits both sides.
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