Los Angeles Lakers basketball is just two days away. In the meantime, the front office will have to continue working toward a decision on the roster, which needs to be finalized before the team clashes with the Golden State Warriors on opening night.
While the Lakers still have roster needs, the more pressing question is what direction the team will take to trim the roster, which currently carries 16 players, one more than the league permits.
That has put players like Dalton Knecht, Bronny James and Jaden Hardy in the limelight. It is widely believed that the Lakers will move at least one of these players before the regular season starts. Most expect that Knecht, the No. 17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, is most likely to be on his way out.
Lakers Could Move Knecht … Because His Draftmate is Just Better?
The Lakers’ 2024 draft has been disputed for so many reasons. There was once a time when fans went back and forth about whether Knecht was the “steal” of the draft, especially after he scored 37 points and cashed nine 3-pointers in a game early in his rookie season. But more notable was the Lakers’ decision to select James in the second round. We have gone from some arguing that James should not have gotten drafted to many believing he has a higher upside than Knecht, who was taken 38 spots ahead of him.
“He just really hasn’t improved much since his rookie year,” said team reporter Trevor Lane on the Lakers Nation YouTube channel. “(He) came into the NBA playing pretty well; he was exciting. And then, in the second second half of his rookie season, (he) fell off, and we just haven’t really seen him be the same player since then. Obviously, there was the failed Mark Williams trade, but Dalton Knecht right now, not playing particularly well, certainly not what the Lakers envisioned him to be when they drafted him with the 17th overall pick.”
Although there are still debates about whether Knecht deserves more opportunity than James despite what we saw last season. It is hard to argue that James didn’t show more upside than Knecht last season — and maybe by far.
Why Knecht is On a Much Hotter Seat
For one, the Lakers have until after next season to make a decision on James’ 2027-28 team-option; L.A. has only until the end of the month to either pick up or refuse Knecht’s team-option for next season.
“I have a lot of the Lakers fans say, ‘What are you talking about? Bronny needs to be waived. Waive Bronny!’ Frankly, Bronny has just been flat out better than Dalton Knecht, especially last season he certainly was,” Lane expressed. “But also when you look at Day 1 to now, Bronny has been a guy who has improved significantly whereas Dalton has kind of been stagnant in terms of his growth as an NBA. Not only is Bronny the better player today, but his trajectory has been moving in a much more positive way.”
Even if James and Knecht were on relatively equal footing, one could argue that the Lakers would be much better off retaining James over Knecht because of the former’s age. Knecht is already 25 after just two seasons in the NBA. James, meanwhile, is getting ready to turn 22.
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