For a brief, shining stretch early last season, Dalton Knecht was the best thing to happen to the Lakers since Austin Reaves learned how to draw fouls. The man was cooking. He dropped 20, 30-point nights like confetti at a Knicks playoff elimination party. Lakers fans were eating it up—YouTube clips, Reddit threads, even LeBron subtweeting other GMs for passing on him. The vibes? Immaculate.

But then came February. And with it? Luka Doncic in purple and gold, Anthony Davis in street clothes again, and Max Christie getting more MRI time than minutes. In the midst of that chaos, Dalton Knecht faded harder than the Timberwolves in the third quarter of any playoff Game 7.

As Lakers insider Allen Sliwa put it: “Dalton Knecht was selling… I put out anything on him and people wanted to consume it—steal of the draft look how good this guy is. He had games when he’s dropping 20 plus, 30 plus points, carrying the Lakers’ weight early in the season. But things started changing. Teams made adjustments, and suddenly, he wasn’t the same player.”

Once defenses realized Knecht’s bag wasn’t bottomless, they started attacking him like he was Duncan Robinson on a switch. Offensively, his rhythm vanished. Defensively, let’s just say JJ Redick probably had to squint hard to justify leaving him in games. “If he’s not defending, maybe JJ Redick is taking him out,” Sliwa added bluntly.

It didn’t help that Knecht had to mentally reset after nearly being shipped off in the infamous Mark Williams Trade that wasn’t. The Lakers tried to trade him to the Hornets, pulled it back, and then… just kinda ghosted him like they swiped left mid-conversation.

The Lakers’ 103–83 win over the Heat saw Cole Swider shine, Darius Bazley bring the hustle, and Bronny James log a respectable debut. Meanwhile, Knecht floated around like the basketball equivalent of a lost Roomba.

To his credit, Knecht took accountability: “Took a while for me to get going, I mean I didn’t get going at all… gotta come out with more confidence, shake off the rust.” But shaking off rust in the Summer League while your name is being floated in trade deals isn’t exactly a calming environment. Especially when that trade involves names like Andrew Wiggins, Robert Williams, and Coby White.

A Lakers Exit on the Horizon?

Sliwa, ever the realist, doesn’t see this ending in Hollywood glory: “Doesn’t it just feel like Dalton Knecht needs a fresh start on another team where he can just be himself? If he were playing for the Hornets, the Kings, the Suns—whatever team—it’d be a different story.” Even The Athletic’s Jovan Buha chimed in, not with a sword, but a calculator: “Dalton Knecht… is an eighth, ninth man. And when thinking about the Lakers trying to get a starting center or a starting wing, you need to give something up to get that player.”

And the trade offers are already cooking. According to Sports Illustrated, the Lakers could send Knecht, Gabe Vincent, and a pick swap to the Bulls in a three-team deal that brings back Jalen Smith and Jevon Carter. The reasoning? Smith’s a better offensive fit behind Deandre Ayton (yes, him again), and Carter’s a serviceable vet. Not exactly a “steal of the draft” outcome.

Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office are clearly building toward 2026. Contracts like Jake LaRavia and Jarred Vanderbilt are designed for flexibility. Dalton Knecht? He feels like a chess piece they’re still unsure how to use—too talented to discard, too flawed to trust in tight moments. Windhorst made it clear: “The Lakers have already traded him once.”

And let’s not forget, JJ Redick essentially iced him out of the rotation late last season. Now, with Ayton in the fold and the Lakers pursuing more wings, Knecht’s name continues to headline trade calls like a disappointing sequel no one wants to pay for.

There’s still hope for Dalton Knecht. He can shoot—when he’s locked in, his jumper is smoother than KD’s Twitter fingers. But he’s not being given the same leash anymore. The Lakers aren’t waiting for him to figure it out; they’re pushing ahead, with or without him.

Maybe he proves the doubters wrong. Maybe he ends up on a team like the Hornets and becomes their next 18 PPG guy in a contract year. Or maybe, like Sliwa warned: “If you’d asked me two months ago whether Knecht would still be a Laker by July 7th, I’d have said no.”

Either way, Dalton Knecht’s time in L.A. feels less like a breakout and more like a beat drop that never hit.