Lakers’ Dalton Knecht put on warning ahead of roster decision date

The Los Angeles Lakers have some tough decisions to make over the next month and a half, though there’s reason to believe that if certain players step up a bit, they don’t have to move on from them. Right now, the Lakers have limited assets, at least in the simple sense of players they could trade.

Los Angeles will have to make those decisions over the next couple of weeks, with Dalton Knecht being the focus.

According to the latest report from a Lakers insider, Knecht is in that spot where he could either have a chance to play and make an impact or be cut.

“The Lakers have until Oct. 31 — Halloween, spooky time — to make a decision on Dalton Knecht and whether or not they want him under contract next year at $6.4 million. Last year, they went ahead and picked up the $4.2 million team-option. My assumption is that if they had to make a decision right now, they would not pick up the $6.4 million team-option on Dalton Knecht.

“He’s got between now and Halloween to change their mind. … I hope Dalton comes out and he is great (next season) and he turns it around. If he doesn’t, and the Lakers don’t pick up that team-option, he’s probably the clear candidate to get cut,” Trevor Lane said, H/T Heavy.

Knecht is a difficult player to evaluate in simple terms based on what he does for the Lakers. Not that he’s a bad player by any means, but it always feels like there was more there. He’s yet to prove that during his time with the Lakers, and at some point, teams can’t keep going off hope.

There’s obviously a scenario in which he can be a really good player, but he just hasn’t done that in Los Angeles.