The Los Angeles Lakers continue to explore trade options involving Dalton Knecht as Monday’s roster deadline approaches, with the third-year wing viewed as the leading candidate to be waived if no deal materializes.
Teams must finalize their 15-man standard rosters by 2 p.m. Pacific time on Oct. 19, one day before the 2026-27 regular season begins. The Lakers currently carry 16 players on fully guaranteed contracts and must reduce that total, according to multiple reports.
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies are all actively looking at the trade market to address similar roster crunches.
“Have heard the Bucks, Lakers and Grizzlies all exploring trades,” Fischer posted.
Los Angeles has tried to move Knecht, along with forward Jarred Vanderbilt, for nearly two seasons without success. The franchise has sought a consolidation trade that could send out multiple players in exchange for an upgrade at starting power forward or backup center.
Lakers reporter Jovan Buha has tracked those efforts closely.
“I think the Lakers are gonna explore a trade,” Buha said. “They’re gonna try to do some sort of either dump a player somewhere or a consolidation trade. But if they can’t and it comes down to waiving someone, my prediction would be Dalton Knecht is the one that gets waived.”
Buha added context on the long-running search for a partner.
“I’ve been talking about it on here [Buha’s Block]. The Lakers have been trying to trade both of these players going back really almost two seasons,” he said. “They’ve been shopping these guys for a while, well over a year. They were shopping them last deadline. They’ve been shopping them this offseason. They’ve not been able to offload them.”
The competition for the final roster spot has narrowed largely to Knecht and guard Jaden Hardy.
“It is fair to say that not all hope is lost for Knecht. There is reason to narrow this roster decision down to a two-man race between him and Jaden Hardy. In that competition, Hardy has not really done much to make himself irreplaceable for the Lakers either,” wrote Svyatoslav Rovenchuk for LakeShowLife.com.
Rovenchuk also highlighted the approaching cutoff.
“Oct. 19 at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT is the deadline to have roster sets for NBA Opening Day. Rob Pelinka will surely know that much. No player on the Los Angeles Lakers may be as aware of that looming checkpoint as third-year wing Dalton Knecht.”
Knecht’s preseason production has not strengthened his case. Across three contests he totaled 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting with six turnovers in roughly 40 minutes, according to league tracking.
That output continues a downward trend from the regular season. In 2025-26, the 25-year-old averaged 4.2 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists in 10.2 minutes across 54 games while shooting 34.2 percent from three-point range, per NBA.com data.
Those numbers marked a clear drop from his rookie campaign, when Knecht averaged 9.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game while making 37.6 percent of his threes over 78 appearances.
If waived, Knecht could draw interest from rebuilding clubs looking for size and perimeter shooting. Teams such as the Chicago Bulls and Charlotte Hornets have been mentioned in that context, though no formal interest has been confirmed.
A separate deadline looms shortly after the roster cut. The Lakers hold a team option worth roughly $6.45 million for the 2027-28 season that must be decided by Nov. 2. Retention appears unlikely if Knecht is not kept for the current year.
The Lakers’ preference remains finding a trade partner rather than absorbing the remaining salary through a waiver. With only a few days left, any deal would need to address both the roster limit and a positional need.
