The Lakers are still working to move a role player before opening night, with Dalton Knecht and Jarred Vanderbilt the two names they are shopping, per NBA insider Jake Fischer, who laid out the team’s thinking on Bleacher Report’s “NBA Insider Notebook” livestream on Tuesday. Fischer said Los Angeles still views its roster as incomplete and wants an upgrade at the wing and forward spots after losing out on Jonathan Kuminga, with 2024 first-round pick Knecht and defensive specialist Vanderbilt the contracts most likely to move.
“I do think that the Lakers are still going to be looking at potentially trading Dalton [Knecht], Jarred Vanderbilt,” Fischer said, adding that there is “plenty of time here before they have to make a decision.” He gave no indication a deal was close.
That pursuit is constrained. Kuminga is off the board after agreeing to a two-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves worth roughly $12.4 million in total, with a player option on the second season. With cap space exhausted, a trade is the Lakers’ realistic path to changing the roster, and Knecht and Vanderbilt are the pieces that make the math work: Knecht is on a $4.2 million salary, Vanderbilt is owed $12.4 million in 2026-27 alone, and together they clear roughly $16.6 million the Lakers could send out to match an incoming contract.
There is also a procedural reason to move someone. The Lakers have 16 players on standard NBA contracts, and league rules cap regular-season rosters at 15, meaning L.A. will need to waive or trade at least one player before opening night.
What This Means
The Lakers are trying to solve two problems with one move: they need a forward upgrade and they need to shed a body to get legal at 15. Consolidating Knecht and Vanderbilt into a single incoming player would do both at once, which is why those two contracts are the ones being pushed. The obstacle is leverage. Vanderbilt is valued for his ability to defend multiple positions and rebound, but the 6’8″ forward’s limited outside shooting makes him an awkward fit alongside a ball-dominant creator like Luka Doncic, and availability has kept him from holding a consistent role in Los Angeles. Missing on Kuminga after reportedly offering him a starting role and three years at $12 million-plus annually leaves the Lakers negotiating from need rather than strength, and the roster overhang gives trade partners a reason to wait them out.
What’s Next
The 16-man roster has to come down to 15 before opening night of the 2026-27 season, so a trade or a waiver is the pending domino. Fischer’s timeline suggests no urgency about which one: teams can open training camp over the limit, and attrition elsewhere in the league — injuries, contract standoffs, roster crunches on other rosters — could surface a better deal either late in camp or closer to the February trade deadline. Fischer did not put a date on a resolution.
Source: Jake Fischer on Bleacher Report’s “NBA Insider Notebook,” via Heavy
Leave a Reply