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Perhaps no one in the NBA has a wilder couple of weeks than Los Angeles Lakers sharpshooter Dalton Knecht, who was originally traded to the Charlotte Hornets for Mark Williams but then found himself back in the City of Angels after Williams failed his physical. The rescinded trade created a bit of an awkward situation in the Lakers' locker room, one that caused Knecht to sit out for a game against the Utah Jazz.
The Knecht-Williams debacle occurred just days after the Lakers shook up the NBA world by acquiring Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis, and now that he's back in Los Angeles, Knecht seems to be excited to be able to work with the multi-time MVP candidate, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN on Instagram.
“It’s strange. I’m one of the few people that’s ever been traded and then come back, so it’s been a crazy journey. I’m just glad to be back and be a part of the team. I get to learn from Luka now. I had AD, Bron and now I’m with Luka and Bron. So, it’s crazy. I get to learn from a lot of greats,” said Knecht.
A wild situation
While Charlotte may not be the ideal place for a young prospect to go and develop their talents, there's little doubt that Dalton Knecht would have had much more of an opportunity to see playing time for the Hornets than he will with the Lakers, especially now with Doncic in the mix.
The Lakers have since added big man free agent Alex Len to try to help fill their void at that position.
Knecht had a solid start to his rookie year, but has been in a bit of a slump as of late, seeing his playing time taper off under head coach JJ Redick as other players fill larger roles.
Still, as Knecht mentioned, getting the opportunity to learn from LeBron James and Luka Doncic at the same time is not something many people get to do, so even if he's not seeing the floor as much, he'll still get some valuable experience.