The Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up their fourth Las Vegas Summer League game on Thursday, dropping their third straight game, which was a 87-78 loss to the Boston Celtics. The results in the Summer League are not particularly important as the teams are more focused on the development of their young players.
That is where things get deeply concerning for the Lakers. Last year’s first-round pick Dalton Knecht has been struggling all summer, and things took a turn for the worse on Thursday. Knecht played 31 minutes and finished the game with eight points, zero assists, and two turnovers, on 3/12 from the field and 1/6 from downtown.
This has brought the former Tennessee standout’s Summer League averages to 11.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.5 turnovers per game on 32.1/23.7/64.3 shooting splits in six starts. Taking only 2.3 free throw attempts per game and having more turnovers than assists as one of the primary offensive weapons on the team is already bad. Then add the disastrous efficiency and going 9-of-38 from three, and you have one of the worst players of the tournament in your hands.
For a 24-year-old on a guaranteed contract whose entire value comes on the offensive side of the ball, this is an unmitigated disaster. It all but ends Knecht’s time in Los Angeles, even if it takes a little longer for his departure to be official.
Even though the Lakers desperately need more shooting, Knecht has failed to prove himself worthy of a rotation role. LA has championship aspirations, and they simply can’t give minutes to a player whose calling card is supposed to be shooting, but who can’t make shots.
The Lakers already tried to trade Knecht at the deadline as part of the rescinded Mark Williams trade. The former 17th-overall pick lived to see another day in Los Angeles, but he may not be so lucky this offseason after his Summer League display.
