Lakers hit Dalton Knecht with a double whammy at the NBA trade deadline
The former Tennessee Vol superstar didn’t get shipped, and the Lakers made things even tougher for him.
The NBA trade deadline has come and gone, and for Tennessee Vol fans hoping that former star Dalton Knecht would finally get sprung from the jail that the Los Angeles Lakers have basically put him in, well, that didn’t happen.
And if things weren’t already bad enough for Knecht in LA, they got worse when the Lakers made a move on Thursday. The Lakers traded Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Luke Kennard.
Lakers pick up a sharpshooter in Luke Kennard, further diluting any value Dalton Knecht might have left
Knecht’s defense has been a problem since he’s come into the league, but his offense — when he’s allowed to play — hasn’t been the problem. Knecht appeared in 78 games from 2024-25 with the Lakers, and his three-point percentage was 37.6%, tied with LeBron James and within a few thousandths of a point from Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić.
Knecht’s three-point percentage has dropped to 31.3% this season, but it’s hard to take much from this season, given how sporadically he’s been used.
Now, the Lakers added one of the best three-point shooters in the league in Kennard, who leads the NBA in three-point percentage at 49.7%. And the move is even more head-scratching, as Kennard has been considered somewhat of a defensive liability, which doesn’t fit with the rationale behind sitting Knecht as much as head coach JJ Redick has done this season.
In any event, what’s done is done, and it appears as though Knecht’s seat on the bench just got bumped down one further. It looks like he’s stuck there as a spectator until the end of the season.
