We are racing toward the start of the 2026-27 season. Finally. After all the summer movement, the new year cannot get here soon enough. The Los Angeles Lakers, though, are still in offseason mode.
The Lakers have some decisions to make involving players on their roster and whether they want to pursue another addition. But the free agency market has dried up. The trade block will stay open for another several months, but L.A. simply doesn’t have the assets on hand to add an impact player.
As for the existing roster, the Lakers have 16 players under contract and need to trim that number to 15 to become compliant by league rule. Will L.A. send out a player (or two) in a trade? Will the team waive someone? There is still plenty that can happen over the next 1 ½ months.
The Lakers Player Who May Be On His Way Out
There isn’t one player on the roster that one would look at and dismiss as a total non-factor, but if it comes down to the Lakers having to make a tough decision, 25-year-old wingman Dalton Knecht may be on the hotseat.
Team analyst Trevor Lane believes Knecht is in a clear position to be waived ahead of the 2026-27 season.
“The Lakers have until Oct. 31 — Halloween, spooky time — to make a decision on Dalton Knecht and whether or not they want him under contract next year at $6.4 million. Last year, they went ahead and picked up the $4.2 million team-option. My assumption is that if they had to make a decision right now, they would not pick up the $6.4 million team-option on Dalton Knecht. He’s got between now and Halloween to change their mind. … I hope Dalton comes out and he is great (next season) and he turns it around. If he doesn’t, and the Lakers don’t pick up that team-option, he’s probably the clear candidate to get cut.”
Knecht, who was the Lakers’ first round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, showed glimpses of stardom as a rookie but was unable to demonstrate growth last season. There may be some out there that would advise the Lakers to give Knecht one more season to prove himself, but Lane believes Knecht could use a change of scenery.
“You could waive and just say you know what, we’re doing right by him because getting him to a different environment, a fresh start, may be the best chance for him to get meaningful minutes.”
L.A. May Already Have its Knecht Replacement; Could He Be Traded?
The Lakers already have younger players who could quickly make their way up the ranks on the roster. One of them is rookie guard Cameron Carr. There are only so many minutes to go around.
“You brought in Cameron Carr, who does the same stuff Dalton Knecht does, and more, and better.”
Knecht is on a very modest contract and is only 25 — surely some team wouldn’t mind trading for him, right? It is uncertain if the Lakers have tried — or will try — to move Knecht in a trade.
Conventional wisdom would tell us that Knecht, a first round pick from just two years ago, will get another opportunity even if the Lakers cut him.
Maybe the Lakers can pick up a second rounder in a Knecht trade.
Lakers’ 6’6″ Promising Young Forward Named a ‘Clear Candidate to Get Cut’