Former Tennessee Vols guard Dalton Knecht is still a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, but no one is expecting that to still be the case when the season gets underway this fall.

Knecht’s minutes were cut in half last season. And the Lakers have added players this offseason that could cut into Knecht’s playing time even more.

Earlier this offseason, ESPN’s Anthony Slater noted that Los Angeles is hoping to land wing Jonathan Kuminga, but the team needs to create some cap space to make that move happen.

And Knecht is one of the expected cap casualties.

“That could include sign-and-trade opportunities involving the Hawks. Atlanta remains open to facilitating a move that would help Kuminga keep his Bird rights and get a contract he desires, but Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh would need to be incentivized to make such a move, team sources said,” reported Slater in June. “The Lakers have several contracts they could send out to generate a bigger offer — including those of Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht and Jaden Hardy — but would presumably need to attach at least one of their remaining assets (three second-round picks, a 2032 first-round pick swap) to make that happen.”

On Thursday, NBA insider Evan Sidery reported that Los Angeles is “actively looking for facilitators” to take Knecht’s contract so they can land Kuminga.

The Lakers are actively looking for facilitators willing to take on Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht’s contracts in order to acquire Jonathan Kuminga via sign-and-trade.

Vanderbilt’s $12.4 million salary includes a player option for 2027-28, while Knecht makes $4.2 million. pic.twitter.com/OP2N6vhGHW

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) July 23, 2026

It’s clear the Lakers are just trying to dump Knecht at this point. If they could send him to a team and get nothing in return, they’d do it just to get his salary off the books.

I don’t understand why the Lakers feel this way about Knecht. I mean, he showed as a rookie, when he had a couple of games with more than 30 points, that he can be an impact role player in the NBA.

The Lakers, for whatever reason, just don’t seem to agree.

We’ll see where Knecht lands this offseason — hopefully it’s with a team that will actually give him a chance to play.