The Los Angeles Lakers need to let Dalton Knecht be free.

The team’s 2024 first round pick has been wasting away on JJ Redick’s bench, or dungeon, watching the team eventually bow out of the playoffs. That either came on the bench or on the floor in the final minutes in mop up duty.

Will that divorce happen this offseason? Will LA finally trade away the former Tennessee Vols superstar?

Well, he almost certainly won’t be included in the league’s biggest trade talk of the offseason – Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

ESPN NBA insider Bobby Marks evaluated a list of trade contenders, and for Los Angeles, he noted that the Lakers don’t have enough young and controllable players, with Knecht being the only option.

ESPN NBA insider Bobby Marks implies Lakers’ use of Dalton Knecht wouldn’t help get a trade done for Giannis Antetokounmpo

“We won’t eliminate the Lakers from an Antetokounmpo trade, but pulling off a deal would be difficult for multiple reasons,” Marks wrote. “Though the Lakers have nearly $50 million in cap space to absorb most of Antetokounmpo’s salary, they lack the draft assets and young players on controllable contracts.

“Besides the 25th pick in June, Los Angeles has two additional first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 to include in trades. It can also swap firsts in five seasons (2028, 2030, 2031, 2032, 2033). Meanwhile, Dalton Knecht is the only Laker on a first-round rookie contract.

“One realistic path for Los Angeles seems to be waiting until the 2027 offseason. But that would require Antetokounmpo to play hardball with Milwaukee and interested teams, announcing he will not sign an extension and playing out the season on an expiring contract. The Lakers would then have the available cap space to sign him outright next summer.”

So, it appears as though Knecht couldn’t be pooled with enough draft picks and other young players/controllable contracts to help Los Angeles get a deal done this offseason for one of the league’s biggest mega-stars. And it’s not hard to argue with that, based on the trade ammo that Marks relays here.

A Knecht trade could still be helpful to the Lakers in their search for another star

Knecht and the Lakers need to find a way to move on from each other, and perhaps there’s a way that could happen that could help out both sides, particularly if the Lakers want more trade assets to build up to try to pick up Antetokounmpo at some point down the road.

Unloading Knecht in return for a pick or another controllable young player to help in a future trade would still be a net win for both Los Angeles and Knecht.

And it’s possible someone could want to take a chance on the former Vol. Knecht has shown that when his coach actually lets him out of his dog house and play meaningful minutes, he’s able to put the ball in the hoop quite well.