Draymond Green explains why Dalton Knecht has struggled with Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have to cut one player on a guaranteed deal before opening night, and all signs point to Dalton Knecht being the odd man out. Draymond Green recently went on his spiel about the rumored development, echoing that the franchise's irreversible mistake from more than a year ago is to blame for the young wing's ruined stint with the franchise.

While nothing is set in stone yet, it is indeed looking like Knecht will be the one getting shown the door soon. This is not all that surprising given that he had a down year in his sophomore campaign, one marred by him receiving little playing time due to his inconsistent play. Well, as Green said, that botched trade simply affected him intensely.

Draymond Green reminds people of why Dalton Knecht struggled so much with the Lakers

As everyone knows, the Lakers tried to dangle Knecht away to the Hornets for big man Mark Williams before the 2025 NBA trade deadline. That trade completely fell apart, and what was an encouraging rookie campaign for Knecht at the time soon turned into a free-fall that is continuing at this juncture.

His rookie season ended in ugly fashion, and that spilled over to his sophomore year. This past season, he averaged just 10.2 minutes a night (down from 19.2 in his freshman year), registering 4.2 points per game on 34.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

It is apparent that JJ Redick and the Lakers brain trust have very little faith in Knecht ever recovering from the botched trade that broke him. At this point, there are no teams reported to have registered interest in him, so the likely culmination is that he will get cut before opening night.

As Green said, Knecht is in basketball purgatory, and that seems to be his fate unless he is in a different situation. The Lakers messed up on this front, and now they are shackled from taking on a different approach with their young wing.