Since arriving in the league in 2024 as the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round draft pick, VFL Dalton Knecht’s trajectory has been on the decline. It’s been for a few different reasons, though. The first and obvious one is the trade-that-never-was during his rookie season with Charlotte. The Lakers dealt the then-rookie Knecht to the Hornets, but the deal was nullified after just a few days. Knecht was sent back to finish the season with the Lakers, a team that just tried to ship him away.
The other reason has been a steady decline in usage. In his rookie season, Knecht played in 78 games and averaged 19.2 minutes on the court per contest. In his second season, though, Knecht only played in 54 games and saw his minutes plummet to just 10.2 per game. His field goal and three-point percentages did slightly dip from year one to year two, but the awkwardness of the situation and the scarce usage certainly haven’t helped.
One immediate thought after the Lakers drafted former Tennessee Vol Cam Carr with a first-round pick on Tuesday was that Knecht’s tenure with Los Angeles might finally be coming to a close, giving him a chance for a fresh start away from an organization that clearly isn’t utilizing him anymore. This would require the Lakers to trade him, considering he’s only entering his third season in the league.
That being said, though, the reports around Knecht’s trade value have been disappointing at best. According to The Athletic’s Dan Woike on June 21, there “isn’t a real clamoring from teams to go get one of them,” regarding L.A.’s Dalton Knecht and Jarred Vanderbilt. This comes after NBA reporter Evan Sidery reported on June 13 that Los Angeles was actively searching for a trade partner for Knecht’s services.
So in the span of just a few weeks, you have a report that says the Lakers have been shopping Knecht’s contract, a report that says the league’s teams don’t seem to be all that interested, and the Lakers’ draft pick of a high-energy three-point shooter in the 2026 draft – which is a former Tennessee transfer, nonetheless.
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At this point, it seems like a team with a willingness to take a chance and a desperate need for a talented perimeter shooter is the only viable option to get the former Vol away from Los Angeles. The question is, how many of those teams are there?
Perhaps teams have been waiting for the draft this week to see if they can address a similar need there first. Following the second round on Wednesday, maybe a team is more likely to step up and acquire the rising third-year player. But if both reports are believed to be true, the market appears to be pretty chilly on the former Vol.
It’s a murky situation for a player who was looked at as the steal of the draft as the 17th overall pick.
Any way you look at it, Knecht is in need of new threads. The Lakers have shown that he doesn’t have a true role in their rotation moving forward, and it seems like Los Angeles has given up on its first-round pick from the 2024 NBA Draft. Knecht isn’t getting any younger, and he could really benefit from a change of scenery moving forward.
Knecht took 557 shots in his first year, but that number plummeted to just 191 shots during his second year with the team. His name was tossed around in potential trade scenarios at the deadline this past season, but nothing ultimately manifested as rumors swirled of potential diminished value due to his lack of usage.
In his second season as a whole, Knecht averaged just 4.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 58 games on the court.
