Sometimes it can be hard to read too much into what you see during NBA Summer League competition. But when the same troubling traits seen in a player during the regular season continue to pop up over the summer, despite the level of competition being much lower, a team could have a real problem on its hands.
This is where one key member of the Los Angeles Lakers' summer roster appears to be after three games in the California Classic at the Chase Center in San Francisco, and that could be a bad omen for what the future holds for him in Southern California.
Summer League Proves Dalton Knecht Is on Thin Ice with Lakers
The Lakers selected former University of Tennessee standout Dalton Knecht with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. At the time, the selection was lauded by LeBron James and others as one of the top scorers in the SEC slipped out of the lottery and fell into the laps of the Purple and Gold.
While it was just a three-game stretch in San Francisco, Knecht struggled mightily with his consistency as he was downright dreadful from the field in his first two games before putting together a standout performance in the team's third and final game.
Knecht shot 5-20 from the field and missed all nine of his attempts from beyond the arc over those first two games. He turned things around in the Lakers' finale in San Francisco, shooting 9-18 from the field, and 4-8 from 3-point land for 25 points.
Those scoring outbursts are great, but it is the lack of consistency that is the issue here. Of the 78 games he appeared in as a rookie, there were 13 separate occasions where Knecht followed up a game in which he scored in double figures with a performance where he was held to six points or less. This isn't a minute's issue either. Of those 13 games referenced above, Knecht only saw 10 minutes or less of playing time in three of those contests.
As fans in Los Angeles know, Knecht's rookie season did not go as planned, and the now 24-year-old was traded at the deadline to the Charlotte Hornets in a deal that was ultimately rescinded because of Mark Williams' medical evaluation.
If Knecht is struggling this badly at his age to be consistent against summer league-level players, it is fair to start wondering whether he is showing his true value as an NBA player. That is an ugly truth that Rob Pelinka and the front office have to be weighing as we move closer to the start of the 2025-26 campaign.
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