{"id":174754,"date":"2026-01-28T09:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T14:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=174754"},"modified":"2026-01-28T11:17:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T16:17:07","slug":"insider-tabs-lakers-forward-candidate-for-fresh-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/28\/insider-tabs-lakers-forward-candidate-for-fresh-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Insider Tabs Lakers Forward as Candidate for \u2018Fresh Start\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

As rumors continue to swirl over the <\/span>Lakers\u2019 trade assets<\/span><\/a>, one insider has fanned the flames around <\/span>Dalton Knecht<\/span><\/a>\u2019s possible exit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Insider Tabs Lakers Forward as Candidate for \u2018Fresh Start\u2019<\/h2>\n

Marc Stein on Knecht<\/h3>\n

In his Tuesday night rumor roundup, <\/span>NBA insider Marc Stein<\/span><\/a> mentioned Knecht as one player who needs a change of scenery\u2014a common narrative built from the young forward\u2019s mounting struggles.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnother player to watch in terms of possible fresh starts is the Lakers’ Dalton Knecht, who was traded to Charlotte a year ago before being forced to return to LA when the purple and gold rescinded its deal to acquire Mark Williams from the Hornets.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 36 games of a sophomore slump, Knecht has averaged 4.8 points and 1.6 rebounds while shooting 43.7% from the field and 31.9% from three. It\u2019s a far cry from the efficient 9.1 points per game he posted as a rookie, a campaign that included a <\/span>Rising Stars selection<\/span><\/a> and\u2014at one point\u2014an <\/span>early case for Rookie of the Year<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

As injuries mounted in December and early January\u2014headlined by <\/span>Austin Reaves<\/span><\/a>\u2019 absence\u2014head coach JJ Redick said Knecht would <\/span>earn consistent opportunities<\/span><\/a> by \u201c[playing] hard.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s been the biggest point of emphasis for him all season. He\u2019s not gonna be judged on whether he makes or misses shots, but that helps. When you go through a stretch where you feel like your team isn\u2019t playing hard, you gotta play the guys that are consistently playing hard. I think he\u2019s had some really good moments already this season and I think for him, \u2026 he\u2019s gonna have consistent playing time and consistent opportunities.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, since Redick\u2019s comments on Jan. 4, Knecht has <\/span>averaged<\/span><\/a> 10.3 minutes and put up 2.8 points on 32% shooting from the field. With <\/span>Reaves<\/span><\/a> progressing toward a return and veteran contributors stepping up, it only spells more trouble for Knecht\u2019s situation.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Where Could Knecht Go?<\/h3>\n

If the Lakers <\/span>packaged Knecht\u2019s $4 million salary<\/span><\/a> with other expiring contracts, perhaps he could get that fresh start on a low to mid-tier team, free from championship-level pressures with a true opportunity to grow.<\/span><\/p>\n

In that case, squads like the <\/span>Sacramento Kings<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Dallas Mavericks<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>New Orleans Pelicans<\/span><\/a> could be logical fits. They each have players the Lakers would want, and they\u2019ve all struggled with perimeter shooting this season\u2014ranking in the bottom-ten in three-point <\/span>makes<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>percentage<\/span><\/a>. And between the young core of the Pelicans or the veteran-laden Kings and Mavericks, Knecht could fit their respective timelines as a 24-year-old wing.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019d be a difficult sell with the Lakers\u2019 dull assets and Knecht\u2019s lackluster production. But the team can\u2019t afford to stand pat as the <\/span>playoff race<\/span><\/a> intensifies, leading to a potential deadline breakup with Knecht<\/a> that could send him out for good.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As rumors continue to swirl over the Lakers\u2019 trade assets, one insider has fanned the flames around Dalton Knecht\u2019s possible exit. Insider Tabs Lakers Forward as Candidate for \u2018Fresh Start\u2019 Marc Stein on Knecht In his Tuesday night rumor roundup, NBA insider Marc Stein mentioned Knecht as one player who needs a change of scenery\u2014a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":174763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62,3,4721],"tags":[4556,49212,2279],"class_list":["post-174754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-austin-reaves","tag-dalton-knecht","tag-jj-redick"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174754"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174832,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174754\/revisions\/174832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}