Dalton Knecht agreed to a two-way contract with the New York Knicks, days after the Los Angeles Lakers cast him aside just two years after making Knecht the 17th overall pick in the NBA Draft, according to a report by ESPN‘s Shams Charania Friday morning.
The former first-round pick starts over on the league’s lowest contract tier, and the question that ended his Los Angeles run follows him east. Where do his minutes come from?
A two-way deal pays a flat $678,882 for 2026-27, half the rookie minimum, and stays off the salary cap, according to Hoops Rumors. Knecht can suit up for up to 50 regular-season games with New York, but he spends the rest of his season in the G League and cannot play in the postseason unless the Knicks promote him to the standard roster.
To open a slot, New York is waiving Kevin McCullar Jr., according to an SNY report, which leaves Tyler Nickel and Jaden Akins on the other two-way deals. Sacramento, Minnesota and Toronto, the three teams with open two-way spots, all weighed a bid, according to Bleacher Report‘s Jake Fischer.
Knecht signed a four-year, $18.48 million rookie contract with Los Angeles on July 3, 2024. That deal averaged $4.62 million a year.
Why the Los Angeles Lakers Waived Dalton Knecht
Los Angeles entered Monday with 16 players on guaranteed standard contracts and a deadline to get down to 15. The front office explored trades, including two-for-one deals, and found nothing, according to Hoops Rumors.
Knecht carried negative trade value on his $4.2 million salary, and the Lakers had little draft capital to attach as a sweetener. So they waived him and absorbed the entire amount as dead money. His $6.45 million option for 2027-28 became void, and he hit free agency after clearing waivers Wednesday.
Knecht shot 46.1 percent overall and 37.6 percent from three in 78 games as a rookie, then slid to 4.2 points in 10.2 minutes per game across 54 games last season, with his three-point percentage down to 34.2, according to Hoops Rumors.
Not every problem showed up in the box score.
“Certainly his processing and decision-making were not at the level that the Lakers wanted it to be at or needed it to be at,” Lakers insider Jovan Buha said, as quoted by BasketNews.
Los Angeles added wings all summer.
“The team changed. The needs changed, the fit changed,” coach JJ Redick said, as quoted by Hoops Rumors.
Dalton Knecht’s Background and Role With the New York Knicks
Knecht, who graduated from Prairie View High School in Henderson, Colorado, played junior college at Northeastern Junior College, then moved to Northern Colorado, where he led the Big Sky at 20.2 points per game as a senior. He transferred to Tennessee for 2023-24 and averaged 21.7 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 39.7 percent from three.
That season earned him SEC Player of the Year and consensus first-team All-American honors, Tennessee Athletics’ records show. The Lakers took him 17th overall that June.
Knecht flashed in the NBA, too. He went 5-of-5 from three against Memphis on Nov. 13, 2024, then made nine threes in a 37-point game against Utah six days later, tying the NBA rookie record for threes in a game.
New York, the defending champion, views him as a low-cost scoring option and a developmental gamble on a former first-rounder with proven college production. His playing time is expected to be limited and situational, opening mostly when OG Anunoby or Josh Hart are unavailable.
The Knicks pay $678,882 to find out whether the shot that made him an All-American is still in there. The Lakers, meanwhile, carry $4.2 million on their cap for a player who is no longer on their roster.
Lakers Castoff Dalton Knecht Learns His Fate After New York Knicks Report Leaks