Both Dalton Knecht and the Lakers took a giant kick to the chin.
As for the Lakers?
They waived their No. 17 pick in the 2024 draft on Monday after trying to use the 25-year-old forward as trade bait but getting no bites.
This is their second first-round pick in the last few years that turned out to be fool’s gold following selecting Jalen Hood-Schifino with the 17th overall pick in the 2023 draft and then declining his third-year option and watching him slip out of the league.
As for Knecht?
He went from being a promising stud who had back-to-back 27-point and 37-point performances his rookie season to slipping out of Lakers coach JJ Redick’s rotation.
His fall from grace was precipitous, leaving the forward treading water in no-man’s land with his best option at this point likely being signing a two-way contract.
So, how did we get here?
Dalton’s downfall
This is unfortunate for both parties. The Lakers let a desperately-needed first-round draft pick evaporate into thin air. And Knecht’s career is snowballing downhill.
Things reached a critical point in February 2025.
Shortly after the Lakers stunned the basketball world by acquiring Luka Dončić from the Mavericks ahead of the trade deadline, they sent Knecht, Cam Reddish, a future first-round pick and a pick swap to the Hornets in exchange for Mark Williams.
But Williams failed his physical with the Lakers, who then rescinded the deal. That meant Knecht had to tuck his tail between his legs and walk back into a locker room that had been ready to move on without him.
There’s no coming back from that, really.
How could his confidence not be irrevocably shaken by that? Imagine your boss firing you. Then getting a call from him, saying, “Never mind.” And then having to go into the office the next day.
After that, Knecht’s deficits became more and more glaring.
He was liability on defense. And when his shot wasn’t falling, trying to plug him into a roster that needed shooters that could create space for Doncic and Reaves became like trying to shove a square into a round hole.
He went from averaging 9.1 points on 46.1% shooting (37.6% from deep), 2.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 19.2 minutes per game his rookie season, to averaging 4.2 points on 45.5% shooting (34.2% from deep), 1.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists in 10.2 minutes per game last season.
Things got even worse for him this preseason.
With nine new players trying to prove themselves, Knecht kept free falling.
In four preseason games, he averaged 2.8 points on 25% shooting from the field (3-for-12) and 14.3% from 3 (1-for-7) as well as 1.3 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game.
“The team changed. The needs changed, the fit changed,” Redick said when asked about Knecht before the Lakers played the Nuggets. “I think he got better as a player over the last two years. I think each guy has, particularly last year, each guy got plenty of opportunities with the amount of injuries we had. So I just think coming into this year, we added a lot of wings and he’s in a tough spot right now.”
So when the Lakers had to trim their roster from 16 players under contract to 15 on Monday, the inevitable happened.
Knecht was first in line, ahead of Bronny James (the 55th pick in the 2024 draft) and Jaden Hardy, whom the Lakers acquired along with two future second-round draft picks (in 2031 and 2032) in a exchange for Deandre Ayton in July.
The Lakers ultimately decided to wave the white flag, letting one of their prized first-round picks drift into the ether with absolutely nothing to show for it but $4.2 million in debt that was remaining on his deal.
It’s a shame the Lakers didn’t trade him the summer after the botched Williams trade. It’s unfortunate they couldn’t strike a deal last season. And it’s unsurprising that they couldn’t get a Hail Mary before Monday.
Now, this is a blight for Lakers’ general manager and president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka.
And it’s a darn shame for Knecht, who just a short while ago was headed on a very different career trajectory.
Just a lose-lose for both parties.
