Lakers reportedly confident in finding trade suitor for $18 million disappointment originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Missing out on Jonathan Kuminga should be considered a substantial blow to a Los Angeles Lakers squad that was believed to be the frontrunner for the ex-Golden State Warriors NBA champion.
In the end, it came down to executing the perfect sign-and-trade for Kuminga, a task the 17-time NBA champions ultimately failed to complete. The former lottery pick signed a two-year, $12.4 million deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves last Wednesday, keeping the Lakers’ forward void alive and well.
Of course, completing a trade centered on their disappointing 25-year-old guard, Dalton Knecht, could help them land a versatile forward like P.J. Washington or Herb Jones, but it would require them to convince a franchise to take a chance on Knecht after a less-than-ideal sophomore season.
According to Heavy’s Sean Deveney, the Lakers are confident that they’ll eventually find a trade suitor for the Tennessee product.
“The Lakers are currently at about $200.5 million in payroll, about $500,000 below the $201 million luxury-tax threshold,” Deveney wrote Wednesday. “They’d like to make a trade, and in doing so, would like to cut out some money in doing so to stay below the threshold.”
“That could mean moving off of the $6 million owed to Jaden Hardy or the $4.2 million owed toDalton Knecht. Trading them into someone’s exception would be ideal, and the Lakers are said to have some confidence in finding a taker for Knecht, who is still only 25 years old and was considered a potential Top 10 pick two years ago.”
The fact that JJ Redick felt inclined to reduce Knecht’s minutes from 19.2 as a rookie to 10.2 as a second-year pro proves that the former first-round pick’s regression is far from a myth.
Knecht’s inability to avoid tunnel vision as a downhill attacker, make plays for others when defenses collapse on him, and take a positive step forward as a spot-up shooter left Redick no choice but to limit his role this past season.
It also doesn’t help that Knecht is a below-average defender who gets picked on by quicker wings more often than not. The 2024 SEC Player of the Year averaged 4.2 points and 1.4 rebounds with the Lakers in 2025-26, shooting 45.5% from the field and 34.2% from long range.
Still, it appears Los Angeles believes that with the right pitch, they could manage to wash their hands of Knecht for good. It remains to be seen whether they’ll succeed before the new season begins.
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