Lakers, JJ Redick, Dalton Knecht JJ Lakers trade rumors
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Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick sits alone on the bench before the game against the Mavericks on November 28, 2025 in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Lakers on Monday assigned former first-round pick Dalton Knecht to their G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. The news comes amid widespread reports that the Rob Pelinka-led front office will shop Knecht ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
Dan Woike
The Los Angeles Lakers have assigned guard Dalton Knecht and forward Adou Thiero to the South Bay Lakers. I believe its Knecht’s first assignment this year
Knecht, who arrived in Los Angeles to much hype, has underwhelmed in his one-and-a-half seasons with the Purple and Gold franchise. While he showed potential to be an NBA-level sharpshooter in his rookie season — averaging 1.6 made threes at 38% shooting — Knecht has not taken much of a leap in his sophmore year. In 20 appearances thus far, the Tennessee alum has averaged 6.4 points and 1.9 rebounds from 15.1 minutes per game, while shooting 36% from deep.
The 24-year-old has also not been very sharp on the defensive end, which has prevented Lakers head coach JJ Redick from giving him much playing time.
JJ Redick Was High on Knecht
The Lakers head coach was elated when the Lakers drafted Knecht with the No.17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, which marked Redick’s first taste of being in an NBA War Room before his first season in charge of the franchise in 2024-25.
At the time, Redick felt the Lakers landed a quality piece in Knecht, given the youngster’s ability to be a movement shooter — a coveted skill in the modern NBA.
“New Lakers coach JJ Redick is a huge fan of this pick, a team source told ESPN, as he has been preaching the importance of adding shooting to the roster, not a surprise considering Redick made over 2,000 NBA 3s in his career at a 41% clip.”
Furthermore, Redick reportedly thought that Knecht, who spent five years in college, was more NBA-ready than other rookies and could be an instant contributor.
“None of us thought he’d be there. It’s crazy. The most ready guy in the draft, ready to play right away,” a Lakers team source said, via ESPN.
Summer League Struggles
Redick’s tone on Knecht seemed to change at the start of the 2025-26 season, after he watched the prospective sharpshooter struggle mightily in the Summer League. Knecht averaged 6.4 points and 1.9 rebounds on 36% shooting from three in the Las Vegas exhibition games in the lead-up to the new NBA season.
“It’s the other stuff (besides offense) that he’s gotto just do and find that consistency in his defense, on being the low man, or boxing out, or crashing every time or sprinting back and actually talking in transition,” Redick said of Knecht.
“When he’s doing those things, he’s an impact player.”
Redick revealed he had several meetings with Knecht during the offseason, urging the youngster to work on certain aspects of his game to succeed in the pros.
“We probably met three times over the summer, met again in September, like it’s clear what he’s supposed to do,” Redick said of Knecht.
“Those three practices, our video room and our analytics guys, they tracked every stat in live play. He had an unbelievable three days offensively. I’m very confident (that) when he’s confident, he’s a high-level offensive player in the NBA.”