Lately, it feels as though everything surrounding Dalton Knecht has been negative.
Most of the chatter has been regarding how underwhelming Knecht was during the second half of last year and his mediocre play during Summer League.
We are far removed from the 2024 NBA Draft, where experts were excited about the Lakers selecting him.
It’s also been a while since he’s had one of those incredible shooting nights where he looks like a legitimate NBA player.
With Knecht’s good games from last season feeling
more like nostalgia than a precursor of things to come, it’s no surprise people are less enthused about his second year, specifically NBA scouts on other teams.
In an article in The Athletic, Dan Woike discussed Knecht’s game with scouts around the league, and the conclusions that they came to were not good.
But after a rough preseason debut where he shot 1 of 12, scouts left Palm Desert as pessimistic as ever, one even calling Knecht a “negative asset,” meaning the Lakers would need to attach pieces to incentivize a team in a trade.
This is bad news for Knecht and the Lakers.
Los Angeles needs Knecht to perform well and contribute to winning now, but he hasn’t done that. In the first preseason game of the year, he played for 26 minutes and shot 1-10, scoring just six points. Knecht didn’t fare much better in the following game against the Warriors. He went 3-11 in the loss, scoring only six points in his 34 minutes of play.
If other scouts around the league view him as a “negative asset” then you can’t even trade him and get value back in return. Last year, this was still possible as Knecht and a first round pick were used to acquire Mark Williams from the Hornets.
That trade was rescinded after Williams failed a physical, but at the time, Knecht and a first round pick were able to secure a starting-quality big for the Lakers.
If this NBA scout matches the overall sentiment around the league, then that’s nowhere near possible if the Lakers want to move him now.
At this point, the Lakers have him on the roster, and the best-case scenario for both parties is improved play by Knecht.
Good basketball by him will solve all of this.
If Knecht can find his groove, he can positively impact the team, and the Lakers will be thrilled to keep him in the rotation, knocking down shots and spacing the floor.
And with a good shooter on the roster, perhaps he can once again be a player to throw into a trade to acquire a quality player in return.
If he continues to struggle, then they will either be stuck with him or will have to use draft picks simply to move on from the Knecht experience.
For what it’s worth, Lakers head coach JJ Redick feels Knecht is in a great place right now. During media day, he mentioned that Knecht had worked too hard during the offseason, which caused his play to struggle during Summer League.
So, maybe this quote is coming from a scout who caught Knecht on a bad night during the early parts of preseason and won’t matter once Knecht has 2025-26 regular-season games under his belt, where he shows his potential.
The clock is ticking for Knecht, though. The NBA is a what have you done for me lately business, and scouts around the league have taken notice of his subpar play.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
