According to recent reports, the Los Angeles Lakers are actively browsing the market to find a deal that would help them become roster compliant before the official deadline strikes tomorrow evening.
As NBA insider Brett Siegel noted, forward Dalton Knecht, the 17th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, is at the forefront of Lakers trade talks.
“The Lakers have continued making recent trade calls in attempts to move Dalton Knecht instead of outright waiving him, with LA having communication with the Bucks, Bulls, and Jazz, among others, sources told @ClutchPoints. It’s become clear Knecht’s future isn’t with the Lakers,” Siegel reported on X, formerly Twitter.
With L.A. needing to trim the roster and another big man to back up star center Walker Kessler, the team will have to get creative to pull off a deal.
This Lakers Trade Proposal Adds a Potential Backcourt Star
While the back up center spot is hands down the Lakers’ most pressing need, five preseason games over the last couple of weeks showed that L.A. could use another ball-handler, especially if Collin Sexton struggles to stay consistently available. In a deal proposed by a Fanspo.com trade machine user, the Lakers, Grizzlies and Kings come together for a three-team deal that finds new homes for three young players.
Lakers receive: Walter Clayton Jr. and a 2027 second round pick (via SAC)
Grizzlies receive: Dalton Knecht
Kings receive: Bronny James
For the Lakers, this is an old-fashioned two-for-one consolidation trade. In this deal, the Lakers move on from James, an often rumored trade candidate, and replace him with Clayton, the 23-year-old former first round pick.
Clayton is reportedly among two players the Grizzlies are prepared to move on from, with former second round pick GG Jackson, an electric 21-year-old scorer, being the other one.
Would L.A. Benefit From This Deal?
Adding Clayton does nothing to solve the Lakers biggest problem, which is why this trade proposal might be easy to ignore for some. But the bottom line is, the big man market is a lot narrower than the guard market, and as Lakers reporter Jovan Buha recently noted, the team is much more likely to make a trade for a legitimate back up center around the midseason trade deadline.
“I think this is something that is probably going to be resolved closer to the trade deadline, to be completely honest,” Buha expressed during a recent episode of “Buha’s Block. “There’s maybe a world in which some team decides to trade with the Lakers now, but I think their assets, particularly some of the expiring contracts that they have, will have more value closer to the trade deadline. I would say that this might be a situation that reveals itself in time.”
Which brings us back to Clayton, the former March Madness star who in 2025 became the first player since Larry Bird to record 30 points in both the Elite Eight and Final Four before leading the Florida Gators to the National Championship.
That season, Clayton recorded 713 points, breaking Florida’s single-season scoring record.
Of course, Clayton hasn’t quite been the same player in the pros after his first two seasons. But he is still in the infancy of his development, has all the upside potential and could be a more dependable table-setter off the bench compared to someone like James.
Lakers Trade Pitch Ships Bronny James for 23-Year-Old March Madness Legend