The Lakers are telegraphing their next move with Dalton Knecht, and it could result in him landing with a team much closer to Knoxville
The expectation is that former Tennessee Volunteers guard Dalton Knecht will be traded by the Los Angeles Lakers at some point this offseason.
The expectation is that former Tennessee Vols guard Dalton Knecht will be traded by the Los Angeles Lakers at some point this offseason.
Knecht clearly isn’t viewed as part of the Lakers’ future. At this point, Los Angeles is simply looking for the right situation — they aren’t going to dump Knecht just to get rid of him.
One scenario that’s popped up in recent days involves the Atlanta Hawks.
The Lakers are reportedly interested in unrestricted free agent wing Jonathan Kuminga, but according to ESPN, Los Angeles has “not yet given him an enticing enough offer to commit.”
One reason is because the Lakers don’t have a lot of wiggle room financially.
So a scenario that’s being tossed around is a sign-and-trade with the Hawks, and Knecht is one of the players who’s been mentioned that could go to Atlanta.
“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 ESPN’s Anthony Slater on Tuesday. “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.”
The Lakers still have some moves to make this offseason as they rebuild around Luka Doncic, and it’s clear that Knecht is one of the chips they plan to use to make one of those moves.