The NBA Draft is an inexact science. The further away you get from the No. 1 overall pick, the less likely you are to hit on your selection, and Los Angeles Lakers fans know that all too well.
When you're winning at a high level, missing on a first-round draft pick doesn't set the franchise back terribly. When you're already losing, it just takes what was already a bad situation and amplifies it. The situation that hurts the most, which is where the Lakers find themselves, is when you miss on a pick while in the late lottery into the early teens.
The term "NBA purgatory" refers to a franchise that isn't good enough to make a deep postseason run but isn't bad enough to land a pick in the top five of the lottery. This is where the Lakers found themselves coming out of the 2023-24 campaign after finishing the regular season as the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
Now, they find themselves dealing with the fallout of missing on what was initially lauded as a slam dunk pick at No. 17 overall.
Dalton Knecht's Trade Stock Plummeted After Lakers Summer League
There is no way to sugarcoat it. Dalton Knecht did not enjoy the type of performance during summer league play this July that anyone associated with the franchise hoped for. Not only was his play inconsistent, it was far below the level expected of the 24-year-old who was a first-round pick just one summer ago.
Dalton Knecht’s trade value took a massive hit after the Summer League, and teams around the league no longer view him as a first-round pick, per @jovanbuha
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 22, 2025
“Summer League has not helped Knecht’s stock, and I don’t think at this point he is valued as a first-round pick, in… pic.twitter.com/YGAfFRPa25
According to Lakers insider Jovan Buha, Knecht's performance this summer was so bad that he is no longer viewed as a first-round talent. This is a bit of a disaster for the Purple and Gold as the team's salary cap situation makes it imperative that these first-round selections develop into contributors sooner rather than later.
For a player who is supposed to be a dead-eye shooter and a threat from the perimeter, the former Tennessee Volunteers standout looked nothing like the prospect who torched the SEC. In six appearances, Knecht shot 32.1% from the field and 23.7% from the 3-point line. Those are abysmal numbers for any perimeter player, let alone a recent first-round pick going against summer league competition.
Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office already tried to trade Knecht once. That deal was ultimately rescinded over concerns with the physical taken by Mark Williams. After these showings in San Francisco and Las Vegas, there might not be a team out there willing to take Knecht off the hands of the Purple and Gold.