With Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks’ failed attempt at an extension being public, Miles McBride struggling as he enters a contract year, and Josh Hart and Tyler Kolek also not being extended, fans have speculated on potential roster moves.
And the fans got one today—just not the one most people were necessarily expecting.
On Friday morning, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that New York had signed former Tennessee Volunteer and Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht to a two-way NBA contract. To make space for the third-year wing, the Knicks are waiving Kevin McCullar Jr.
The Knicks weren’t the only team interested either. On Thursday night, rumors indicated that both the Timberwolves and Raptors were also looking at Knecht.
The former 17th overall pick averaged 9.8PPG and 2.8RPG while shooting 46.1% from the field and 37.6% from three during his rookie season. For spurts, it looked like he could develop into a solid rotation piece for a Lakers team that was still trying to contend with LeBron James at the helm and became a fan favorite after a 37-point explosion in the NBA Cup.
Midway through the season, though, Knecht was involved in a trade that would have sent him to the Hornets in exchange for center Mark Williams. After Williams failed his physical and the trade was rescinded, Knecht was forced to return to the Lakers.
Knecht, contrary to belief, finished out the season on a solid note, averaging 8.5PPG while shooting 40.8% from three. Things did take a turn for the worse last season, though. After appearing in 78 games and averaging 19.2MPG in his first season, he averaged just 10.2MPG in just 54 games during the 2025-26 campaign. As many young players do, he struggled with the decreased minutes and inconsistent playing time, leading to a cycle of worse play and even fewer minutes.
The third-year man can still impact the Knicks. He’s just 25 years old and is an above-average shooter with size. In his final year in college, he averaged 21.7PPG on 45.8% shooting from the field and 39.7% shooting from three. It’s not every day you can find that kind of shooting at his height on the waiver wire. But there are plenty of reasons why he saw his minutes dwindle and why he eventually was waived.
Despite being 6’6”, Knecht isn’t much of a defender. He can get lost defensively, and even if he manages to be in the right spots at the right times, he just does not possess the athleticism to be much of a factor on that end. Offensively, he’s shown flashes of being able to utilize his shot to get to other spots on the floor. When a part of the rotation, he was making nice reads off the ball and routinely had nice timely cuts to get easy looks at the rim. But at the end of the day, he’s still best utilized as a spot-up shooter and only a spot-up shooter. He can’t create for himself due to a lack of a reliable handle and certainly doesn’t create for others.
There are also examplesof Knecht not knowing the team’s plays and schemes, which would surely frustrate Mike Brown, who is a very detail- and execution-oriented coach.
Knecht is just 25 years old and has room to grow. If the Knicks, their coaches, and their culture get him right, the shooting and size likely give him more upside than McCullar. But don’t expect him to be a significant contributor. New York likely signed him as a project piece and a deep depth piece. It would take a whole lot for Knecht to not only enter the rotation but to stay there. And in such a circumstance, the Knicks would likely have a lot more than Knecht’s play to worry about.
That being said, it’s still an intriguing low-risk move for a player who may just have needed a change of scenery. It is unfortunate, though, to see McCullar gone given the memorable moments he’s had with this club, regardless of how infrequent they may have been.
