Following up on reporting indicating that former first-round pick Dalton Knecht could be the odd man out as the Lakers deal with a preseason roster crunch, Jovan Buha (Twitter video link) noted on Wednesday that head coach JJ Redick hasn’t outlined the sort of role he envisions for the third-year forward so far at training camp.

“Dalton Knecht is a name that has not come up yet from JJ Redick,” Buha said in recapping the Lakers’ second day of camp. “JJ just discussed Bronny James and Jaden Hardy helping run the offense during the regular season when Luka (Doncic) and Austin (Reaves) are staggered offensively. Every roster player has been mentioned except for Dalton. There has been no talk about his potential role in the rotation. Could mean nothing, but I think that is notable.”

The Lakers are carrying 16 players on guaranteed contracts, so one of those 16 will need to be waived to set the 15-man regular season roster if the team doesn’t make a trade before opening night.

The 17th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Knecht showed some promise as a rookie but played a diminished role in 2025/26, averaging 4.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per game and making 34.2% of his three-point tries over the course of 54 outings. He’ll earn roughly $4.2MM this season; if they hang onto him, the Lakers would have until November 2 to decide whether to exercise his $6.45MM option for 2027/28.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

• The Lakers have hired Pooh Jeter as their new director of pro scouting, reports Marc J. Spears of Andscape (Twitter link). Jeter, a Los Angeles native, played professionally from 2006-23, including one season in the NBA with Sacramento in 2010/11. He has spent the past three years as a player development coach in Portland and was announced last month as part of Micah Nori’s staff for 2026/27, but he has apparently decided to leave the Trail Blazers for a new job in L.A.
• After Walker Kessler predicted this week that the Lakers will be a “nasty defensive team,” Reaves singled out newcomers Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams as two players who will help make that happen, as Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times relays. “Let me tell you, trying to score on Matisse and Ziaire, especially with Adou (Thiero) out there too, and then Walker on the back line, is not easy,” Reaves said on Wednesday. “I had to deal with that all day yesterday and today, and it’s not fun. So, defensively, we’re going to be much better. Those guys compete every possession, and then everybody else, you know, fills in their roles and plays the right way. So, yeah, I see how special we can be.”
• In a column for The Orange County Register, Jim Alexander writes that head of basketball operations Rob Pelinka has a lot riding on the Lakers’ offseason roster overhaul and may find himself on the hot seat if the new-look group doesn’t jell as hoped this season.