2025 NBA California Classic - Golden State Warriors v Los Angeles Lakers
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Los Angeles Lakers fans have been growing a tad impatient in waiting for Rob Pelinka to upgrade the roster via trade this offseason. That task if hard to accomplish when no one is lining up to acquire what the Lakers front office has to offer.
Dan Woike of The Athletic made an appearance on The Zach Lowe Show to discuss a variety of Lakers topics. One of the conversations that came up was the lackluster situation on the trade market.
"Their young players don't have a lot of value around the league," Woike said to Lowe. "It's a piece I've been kind of working on while I've been here. What's going on with Dalton Knecht?"
Lowe could not help but poke fun at the '72-hour news window' after 2024 NBA Draft when everyone called Knecht the steal of the night. Woike even joked about his role in the hype, calling last year's rookie the 'fourth best player on the Lakers roster' during instances in 2024-25.
Knecht's trade value not doing the Lakers any favors
The unfortunate reality is that apart from Knecht, there really is not much else to look at on this Lakers team. With regard to young prospects that could be leveraged in trades for an upgrade, there is not a lot of substance unless you're selling someone on Bronny James being a future star.
According to Woike's assessment, Knecht does not appear to be moving the needle for a lot of potential trade partners right now. If that is indeed the case, the Lakers may have to rebuild his value before exploring some necessary upgrades to the team.
Knecht fell out of favor in JJ Redick's rotation by the end of last season. The Lakers sharpshooter also experienced a rough start to the NBA Summer League before finally stringing together a few encouraging performances.
A good reminder of how some rival teams may be assessing Knecht's trade value may be the Lakers' reported trade talks with the Miami Heat. Pat Riley has never been an easy person to negotiate with. However, the demands asked of the Lakers for Andrew Wiggins were unapologetically brutal.
“I don't know if Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber, Shake Milton & a first gets you Andrew Wiggins. I've shared what I've heard which is that Miami has been asking for a first & Dalton Knecht. I think they also want Rui Hachimura too because they want to remain competitive.” - @jovanbuha https://t.co/8I5QsIEjy8 pic.twitter.com/iO8CjhbBA1
— Dru (@dru_star) July 3, 2025
Jovan Buha shared that Miami had been asking for Knecht and the Lakers' 2031 first-round pick. On top of that, Rui Hachimura would have likely proven necessary to getting that one done.
The Heat may not be the best reflection of what a reasonable asking price around the league is. However, there is still some truth to be found in the idea that Knecht is not good enough to prop up a trade on his own right now.
Fans are undoubtedly anxious to see the Lakers do something with the expiring contracts at their disposal to boost the current championship window. As things stand, the added value needed to move those deals does not appear to be found in their young players for potential partners.