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Dalton Knecht fighting for rotation spot amid Lakers’ roster crunch

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Cite

Price, K. (2026, October 2). Dalton Knecht fighting for rotation spot amid Lakers’ roster crunch. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/01/sports/dalton-knecht-fighting-for-role-amid-lakers-roster-crunch/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-02 · by Khobi Price

Quick Summary

Dalton Knecht, a third-year wing player for an unnamed NBA team, is fighting to secure his spot on the roster as the regular season approaches in two and a half weeks. Despite showing promise early in his career with averages of 18.9 points and 4.9 rebounds during a nine-game stretch in November 2024, Knecht's playing time has decreased significantly due to injuries and team trades. Currently, he faces competition from newly acquired players like Quentin Grimes and Matisse Thybulle, who have received more attention from the coaching staff. Coach JJ Redick acknowledges Knecht’s hard work but hasn’t mentioned him as a key player for the upcoming season, suggesting that Knecht might be at risk of being cut to meet the league's 15-player limit.
Written by AI on 2026-10-02, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Dalton Knecht, a third-year wing drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 17th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, is struggling to secure his spot on an increasingly crowded roster. Despite making a strong debut as a rookie, where he started nine games and averaged 18.9 points and 4.9 rebounds, Knecht's playing time has decreased significantly during his second season. In the 2025-26 season, Knecht logged only 553 total minutes across 54 games, down from 1,494 minutes in 78 regular-season games as a rookie. The Lakers are undergoing significant roster changes around star guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, further complicating Knecht's chances of retaining his spot. This situation leaves Knecht vulnerable to being left off the final roster ahead of the upcoming 2025-26 NBA season starting in about two and a half weeks.

Written for “Lakers Roster Competition” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Lakers Roster Competition
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-02 · how these are computed

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Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 16794 article(s) · 36 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 36 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Khobi Price
65 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Luka Dončić, who had already scored 41 points by that point, had been out of the game for 45 seconds, with the Lakers and Redick believing the end-of-bench players would put the finishing touches on securing the victory.
🔮 The questions the Lakers had to face as they returned to Southern California after a one-game trip to the Bay Area revolved around how this new group would respond to early-season adversity.
🔮 The early-season success might’ve masked the reality of where the Lakers are at in their team-building journey.
🔮 Each week, the California Post will power rank the NBA’s 30 teams.
🔮 The game couldn’t have started better for the Lakers, who were fueled by a signature Luka Doncic scoring early scoring flurry Friday night in Chase Center.
🔮 The Lakers will be without one of their starting wings when they kick off NBA Cup Group Play action against the Warriors on Friday night at Chase Center.
🔮 It’s unlikely Doncic and Reaves will come even close to being the highest-scoring duo in a season.
🔮 When the Lakers would need to play or rely on players they normally don’t, for whatever the circumstances it may be for that given game. And against the Clippers, which was the second night of the back-to-back set after Tuesday’s home loss to the Trail Blazers, the circumstances were being without superstar guard Luka Doncic (back tightness) and Ziaire Williams (left foot soreness).
🔮 And he would’ve liked to return to the franchise.
🔮 The Lakers couldn’t stop Portland from anywhere on the court: The Blazers shot 59% from the field and 50% on 3s.
Also by Khobi Price
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 65 articles by Khobi Price →

Topics

Clippers Lakers NBA the 2024 NBA Draft

Subjects

Knecht PERSON · 13× Lakers ORG · 9× NBA ORG · 3× Redick PERSON · 2× Austin Reaves PERSON · 1× Clippers ORG · 1× Dalton Knecht PERSON · 1× JJ [Redick PERSON · 1× Luka Doncic PERSON · 1× Mark Williams PERSON · 1×

Narrative

That was still true during Knecht’s second season with the Lakers in 2025-26: He played 553 total minutes during the regular season across 54 games after recording 1,494 minutes in 78 regular-season games as a rookie. But with a significant roster reconstruction around star guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, there’s plenty of playing time to go around.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-02
🔮 That doesn’t bode well for Dalton Knecht, who could find himself on the outside looking in.
2026-10-02 · New York Post
Dalton Knecht fighting for rotation spot amid Lakers’ roster crunch · assertive framing

Claims (24 extracted, 1 hedged)

It’s no secret that the Lakers are facing a roster crunch ahead of the regular-season start in 2 ½ weeks. asserted
Lakers → ’ → weeks
That doesn’t bode well for Dalton Knecht, who could find himself on the outside looking in. uncertain
who → bode → outside
Knecht, the third-year wing the Lakers selected with the No. 17 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, made a big splash as a rookie. asserted
Lakers → select → rookie
He was in the rotation from the start of the 2024-25 season, stepping into the starting lineup in mid-November amid injuries — which produced the best stretch of his brief NBA career: Knecht averaged 18.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in the final nine games of November 2024 (nine starts). asserted
Knecht → step → November
Even when he hit a shooting slump in January and December, Knecht was still getting consistent playing time as a part of the rotation. asserted
Knecht → hit → rotation
It looked like Knecht was going to come out of the slump after scoring 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the Lakers’ win over the Clippers on Feb. 4, 2025. asserted
Knecht → look → Feb.
The Lakers included Knecht in the trade for Mark Williams that was rescinded, and Knecht’s playing time for the Lakers wasn’t the same after he returned to the team. asserted
he → include → team
That was still true during Knecht’s second season with the Lakers in 2025-26: He played 553 total minutes during the regular season across 54 games after recording 1,494 minutes in 78 regular-season games as a rookie. But with a significant roster reconstruction around star guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, there’s plenty of playing time to go around. asserted
He → play → time
“It’s a whole new opportunity for all of us,” Knecht said on media day this week. asserted
Knecht → ’ → day
“Like [coach] JJ [Redick] said, there’s a lot of minutes open. asserted
Redick → say → minutes
But it’s unlikely Knecht will soak up those minutes. asserted
Knecht → ’ → minutes
Until Thursday, Knecht wasn’t mentioned — directly or indirectly — by Redick or president of basketball operations/general manager Rob Pelinka during any of their media availabilities. asserted
Knecht → mention → availabilities
Other wing players such as free agent additions Quentin Grimes, Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams, second-year forward Adou Thiero or rookie wing Cameron Carr had gotten significantly more attention as discussion points. asserted
players → get → points
Not a good sign for Knecht, whom multiple rival executives expect to be the odd man out as the Lakers look to trim their roster from 16 players on standard NBA deals to the league maximum of 15. asserted
Lakers → expect → 15
“First of all, he’s been a pro,” Redick said of Knecht on Thursday. asserted
Redick → say → Thursday
Like he has since Day 1, he has worked his butt off all offseason. asserted
he → work → butt
And he’s had a good three days of practice. asserted
he → have → practice
So I don’t think his approach changes. asserted
approach → think → ?
I know he’s hungry to play and hungry to earn a spot in the rotation.” asserted
he → know → rotation
The Lakers still have time to sort out the roster crunch. asserted
Lakers → have → crunch
As Pelinka pointed out, they don’t have to make a decision until the regular season starts. asserted
season → point → decision
Remaining practices will determine who’ll stay with the team. asserted
who → remain → team
And it will give the team time to survey the NBA landscape for consolidation trades. asserted
it → give → trades
Even with the minimal things the Lakers have said about Knecht, it’s been what they haven’t said that’s stood out the most. asserted
that → say → what
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