Lakers Waive Dalton Knecht

The 17th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Knecht got off to a promising start as a rookie but soon saw his production and playing time drop off. In 2025/26, he averaged 4.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per game over the course of 51 appearances. Known as a three-point specialist, the former Tennessee standout made just 34.2% of 2.1 attempts per game in his second NBA season.

Knecht was included in a trade that sent him to Charlotte at the 2025 in-season deadline, but that deal was rescinded two days later after the Lakers balked at the results of Mark Williams’ physical. While Knecht remained in Los Angeles for another season-and-a-half after that failed trade, his place in the team’s long-term plans appeared increasingly tenuous, especially after a series of free agent additions this offseason left the club with more guaranteed contracts than regular season roster spots.

The Lakers reportedly scoured the trade market in recent weeks in an effort to find a two-for-one deal to address their roster crunch or to simply find a taker for Knecht. However, the 25-year-old had negative trade value on his $4.2MM cap hit and Los Angeles had limited draft capital available to attach as sweeteners in order to extract something of value in return.

In the end, the Lakers simply opted to waive Knecht and eat his guaranteed salary for 2026/27 rather than attaching one or more of their few second-round picks to move off his contract. As a result of the waiver, Knecht’s $6.45MM rookie scale team option for ’27/28 will be voided and he’s on track to become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday. He’ll be eligible to sign a two-way contract with another team.

Knecht’s release ensures that other back-of-the-roster players like Jaden Hardy, Bronny James, and Jarred Vanderbilt will open the regular season with the Lakers, who are now carrying 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.