1 week ago
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Dalton Knecht and the Los Angeles Lakers’ partnership appears to be coming to an end, one way or another.
According to a report from the Stein Line’s Marc Stein, the Lakers have been exploring a trade involving the struggling 25-year-old guard ahead of the upcoming regular season.
“The Lakers spent the weekend trying to find a workable trade to ship out Dalton Knecht and maybe even bring back a big man — such as Milwaukee's Jericho Sims, as Jake revealed in his Thursday piece — to shave their roster from 16 guaranteed contracts to 15,” Stein reported Sunday night. “If no trade can be found, they'll have to waive Knecht (or someone else) by the cut-down buzzer.”
After starting his Lakers tenure on a promising note (he averaged 9.1 points per game as a rookie while shooting 46.1% from the field and 37.6% from three as a score-first wing), Knecht's one-dimensional offense and below-average defense quickly led to a downturn.
Knecht, who was in and out of JJ Redick’s lineup in Year 2, contributed 4.2 points per game on 45.5% shooting from the field and 34.2% from beyond the arc. As a result, Knecht has been viewed as a legitimate trade candidate in Los Angeles, and Stein’s latest intel revealed that the organization wants to wash its hands of the former first-round pick as soon as possible.
Needless to say, Knecht’s days with the Lakers are likely numbered.
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