All the recent Los Angeles Lakers trade rumors have been centered on Dalton Knecht. However, he doesn’t have a ton of value around the league, and with the Lakers’ struggles to move him, the team could quickly shift to another player and seriously start to entertain a Bronny James trade right before the season.
James didn’t have the best showing in the preseason, and he appears to have fallen down the depth chart, now behind Jaden Hardy as a reserve guard who likely won’t be getting minutes on a game-to-game basis.
With that, the Lakers could find a team that values James’ name and performance higher than they do. While the front office has been trying to trade Knecht for a new backup center, perhaps James could garner more value and be the missing piece to finally getting a deal done.
Lakers Urged To Trade Bronny James
Writing for LakeShowLife.com after James’ poor preseason and some recent trade rumblings, Tyler Watts urged the Lakers to move on from the third-year guard.
“The Los Angeles Lakers gave Bronny James additional opportunities in the preseason with Collin Sexton out, but his lack of an offensive game should have the franchise looking to move on,” he wrote. “The Lakers need a point guard, but Bronny proved he cannot fill that role.”
James isn’t expected to crack head coach JJ Redick’s rotation much this season, and even if he does, he still hasn’t shown enough to prove he can be a difference maker when on the court.
“Bronny is an undersized guard without an ideal role on either end of the floor. He isn’t a point guard, and his shooting is questionable at best,” Watts added. “Jaden Hardy has already passed Bronny in LA’s rotation…The Lakers would rather have that over what James currently offers.
James’ shooting, ball-handling, and playmaking, all three skills that are the most important for a point guard, haven’t looked like they’ve developed too much since he was last in a competitive game. The Lakers have a few point guards already, and if adding a shooting wing or backup big man is the priority, James might be the key to getting that.
Previously, James was in a battle with Hardy and Knecht for the Lakers’ final roster spot. For now, it looks like he won that battle, but with clear holes still in the franchise’s rotation, perhaps trading the son of the NBA’s all-time leading scorer could prove beneficial, especially considering how other teams might view him.
Los Angeles’ Guard Could Have More Value Than Dalton Knecht In A Deal
All the recent Lakers’ trade rumors have been about a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks to swap Knecht for Jericho Sims to get a new backup center to play behind Walker Kessler.
However, as NBA insider Brett Siegel recently reported, the Bucks would be reluctant to make a Knecht trade even if the Lakers add in a second-round pick.
With that, the idea of James holding higher value, and potentially being someone Milwaukee would be more interested in, suddenly becomes a possibility.
As NBA reporter Sam Quinn of CBS Sports wrote in a post on X, perhaps moving James instead of Knecht would be the smarter move for the Lakers to capitalize on the difference in value between the two 2024 Draft picks.
“If I were the Lakers, I’d be trying to trade Bronny right now to some owner who wants to sell some jerseys. I’d rather keep Knecht on the books as possible trade salary than cut him and deal with dead money. The Lakers don’t really need the James brand like other teams do,” he wrote in a post on X.
“Just hasn’t reached the point of offensive viability through two years, and the defensive threshold is just so freaking high at that size that if he’s never gonna make shots, he basically has to be a Jamal Shead-level pest to even justify a roster spot and he isn’t,” Quinn added.
Regardless of whether he’d play or not, James would be very valuable for the Bucks, at least compared to Knecht.
If the Lakers are serious about trading for Sims or any of their other top big man targets, putting James on the chopping block instead of Knecht might be the right move.
Knecht will still likely be waived, but to get to the 15-man roster limit while also upgrading the roster, trading LeBron James‘ son might not be what the Lakers necessarily would want to do, but it might be the best option left on the table.
Lakers Could Trade Bronny James For Better Dalton Knecht Return Package