Lakers rumors: Dalton Knecht’s trade request expected to be granted

With the NBA trade deadline one week away, one name that has come up trade rumors is Los Angeles Lakers second-year wing Dalton Knecht. Knecht has been mentioned as candidate for a new home come the deadline, and the situation has advanced further in terms of him potentially being on the move.

Dalton Knecht and his representatives have reportedly already approached the Lakers front office and asked for a trade by the deadline, a request that is expected to be granted, as per Anthony Irwin of Offside.

“I’m hearing from sources close to the Lakers and around the league, that Dalton Knecht approached, he and his people approached the Lakers’ front office, they approached Rob Pelinka and asked if they could find him a new home before the February 5th trade deadline,” Irwin reports. “The Lakers are looking to include him in a larger trade package that would bring back an impact type player.”

Irwin also reported that there likely isn’t a scenario where the Lakers would simply cut Knecht if a trade does not materialize. Before the start of this season, the team picked up Knecht’s contract option for next season, and they have another team option for the 2027-28 season before he can hit restricted free agency.

The Lakers had already attempted to trade Knecht during his rookie season, but the initially agreed upon trade with the Charlotte Hornets involving Mark Williams was eventually rescinded after the Lakers’ concerns over Williams’ health. Knecht started out his rookie year as key part of the team’s rotation, but never was able to recover that spark after the failed deal.

This season, Knecht has largely been out of the rotation save for a few games when the team was dealing with injury issues. He’s appeared in 36 games this season, including one start, at a little over 12 minutes per game. He’s averaging 4.8 points and 1.6 rebounds with splits of 43.7 percent shooting from the field, 31.9 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 68.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

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