Draymond Green believes the Los Angeles Lakers are prepared to move on from Dalton Knecht before the regular season begins.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Draymond Green Show, the four-time NBA champion said the former first-round pick is not expected to survive the franchise’s final roster cut.
“Dalton Knecht is not expected to make the Lakers’ regular season roster,” Green said. “Lakers have 16 guaranteed contracts and going into the season you can only have 15 guaranteed contracts. Apparently, Bronny [James] and Jaden Hardy have been outplaying him in camp and he’s viewed as the odd man out.”
That arithmetic leaves the Lakers with one difficult decision. The roster is carrying 16 players on guaranteed deals, and league rules allow only 15 once the season starts.
Knecht, now in the third year of a four-year, $18 million rookie-scale contract, is set to earn $4.2 million in 2026-27.
His place in the rotation has slipped steadily since an encouraging start to his rookie year, and Green’s account of training camp suggests the slide has not reversed. Newcomer Jaden Hardy and Bronny James are said to have moved ahead of him.
The numbers from last season tell a similar story. Knecht appeared in 54 games and averaged 4.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 10.2 minutes, shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from three.
Most of that work came early. He played only 36 minutes in February, 15 in March and 38 in April, appearing in 16 games across those three months.
The decline stood out because Los Angeles was missing Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for stretches in the backcourt, yet Knecht still could not claim a larger role. In the playoffs he logged 18 minutes over five appearances and was effectively out of the rotation.
The downturn traces back almost two years to a trade that never became official.
In February 2025, the Lakers agreed to send Knecht to Charlotte for Mark Williams, then rescinded the deal after Williams failed his physical because of a back issue. Knecht returned to a team that had just tried to trade him.
“It’s crazy because Dalton Knecht seemed to like he had a little bit of promise to him,” Green said. “But after that trade that got voided by the Hornets to bring him in and send Mark Williams to the Lakers, the Lakers voided the trade because of Mark Williams’ back. Dalton Knecht just been in purgatory ever since and ultimately I think it ruined him.”
The offensive skill that made him a first-round pick has not disappeared entirely. In four games with the Lakers’ G League affiliate last season he averaged 21.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists, shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from three.
Those nights suggest another organization could still find a use for him if he becomes available. Whether he can change Los Angeles’s thinking before the roster deadline is the more immediate question. If Green is right, Knecht’s uneasy stay with the Lakers is close to ending.
