The Los Angeles Lakers make a big roster decision just hours before the NBA season opener against the Golden State Warriors.
The Los Angeles Lakers tip off the 2025-26 NBA season on Tuesday with a matchup against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena. Both franchises come into the season with high expectations. Golden State boasts one of the best trios in the league , while the Lakers are led by five-time All-NBA guard Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and the recently inked, former first overall pick, Deandre Ayton.
LeBron James remains out with right-side sciatica and is set to be re-evaluated in the coming weeks, meaning he’ll miss the first 3-4 weeks of the season for L.A. Hours before the Lakers and Warriors faced off, Spotrac’s Keith Smith reported that the Lakers had exercised the 2026-27 rookie-scale team option on 2024 first-round draft pick Dalton Knecht, locking in an approximate $4.2 million salary for next season. The Los Angeles Lakers have picked up the 2026-27 rookie scale team option for Dalton Knecht, a league source told @spotrac.Knecht will be on the Lakers books at $4.2M for next season.— Keith Smith October 21, 2025 Read More: Steph Curry Gets Promising News Amid Warriors’ Roster Shake-Up Knecht arrived in L.A. after a strong college career, spending two seasons at Northern Colorado before transferring to Tennessee for the 2023-24 season, where he was a consensus first-team All-American and won SEC Player of the Year honors. In his lone season with the Vols, he averaged 21.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, shooting 45.8% from the field and 39.7% from deep, leading Tennessee to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Despite being drafted 17th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, Knecht spent much of his rookie year in more of a rotational role, averaging 9.1 points and 2.8 rebounds in 19.2 minutes across 78 games , playing behind James, Reaves and Rui Hachimura. Dalton Knecht #4 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks to shoot against the Phoenix Suns during the first half of the preseason NBA game at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Lakers 113-104. Read More: Warriors’ Jimmy Butler Reveals the Truth Behind Ugly Split With Miami Heat With James ruled out to start the season and likely to miss multiple weeks, the team will have to rely on Doncic, Reaves and Ayton early, testing bench depth and giving more of an opportunity to players like Knecht alongside new additions Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia. Locking in Knecht, at least for next season, provides L.A. with a low-cost internal option who can contribute as a three-level scoring wing when the team gets hit with injuries like they have with James.
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