The Lakers made a critical error in trade involving former Tennessee Vols guard Dalton Knecht and they'll soon find out why
Former Tennessee Vols guard Dalton Knecht was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Charlotte Hornets late Wednesday night. Los Angeles, which traded for Luka Dončić last weekend, sent Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2031 unprotected first-round pick, and a 2030 pick swap to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for center Mark Williams. Knecht, who spent one […]
Former Tennessee Vols guard Dalton Knecht was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Charlotte Hornets late Wednesday night.
Los Angeles, which traded for Luka Dončić last weekend, sent Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2031 unprotected first-round pick, and a 2030 pick swap to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for center Mark Williams.
Knecht, who spent one season at Tennessee after transferring from Northern Colorado, was selected by the Lakers with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
The former Vol averaged 9.4 points per game in 48 games with the Lakers. Knecht scored a career high 37 points against the Utah Jazz in November.
At first glance, this trade makes a lot of sense for the Lakers. Knecht wasn't going to have an obvious role in Los Angeles after the trade for Dončić. And the Lakers, who sent big man Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in the deal for Dončić, were in dire need of a center.
But while it made sense for the Lakers to deal Knecht for a center, this probably wasn't the right deal for Los Angeles.
Williams, a former Duke Blue Devils standout who was selected by Charlotte in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft (No. 15 overall), was absolutely crushed by Hornets television analyst Terrence Oglesby last week for his severe lack of effort.
"I'm okay when shots are missed," said Oglesby at halftime of the Hornets' recent loss to the Washington Wizards. "I'm okay when errors happen. If there's at least effort, I can live with those things. Mark Williams has put together a first half that I've never seen from a starting center at the NBA level, heck, even maybe the college level. He was so poor from an effort perspective today that they had to switch him off of Jonas Valanciunas and then he was giving up wide open threes because he wasn't hustling out to contest threes.
"The effort has to be better. You might be down 23 points, whatever, but the effort has to be better. This is a Washington Wizards team that's dead last in offense and dead last in defense. And they are beating you by 23 points on your home floor because you don't feel like moving? This is crazy. And Mark Williams, if you're going to be the center of a franchise where they've invested in you, and they have planned to for you to be a core piece of what they're going to be moving forward, that effort is unacceptable."
I'm not sure that Williams, based on those comments, is a player that's going to help carry the Lakers to a deep playoff run. Again, I get the reason for the trade, but the Lakers may have made a big error in making this deal because of the player they're receiving in return.
As for Knecht, he should receive plenty of opportunities in Charlotte. The Hornets are one of the worst teams in the league this season, so playing time should be plentiful for the former Vol.
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