At the time of his selection, many immediately praised the Los Angeles Lakers for ending Dalton Knecht’s draft day slide. In 2025, a year and a few changes removed from the 2024 NBA Draft, the picks for Rob Pelinka and the front office are rapidly deteriorating.
After a promising start to his NBA career, Knecht has been out of the rotation most of the time in Los Angeles, as the roster is near full strength and as clean as health has been all year. Meanwhile, several players who were taken immediately after the second-year man are finding their stride.
Tristan da Silva is playing a reliable role with the Orlando Magic. Jakobe Walter brings a skill set every night to the Toronto Raptors that the Lakers would love to have right now. The same can be said about Jaylon Tyson and what he is doing for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Those three were the 18th, 19th and 20th picks, who immediately followed Knecht in the 2024 NBA Draft. Looking back in 2025 shows the Lakers may have walked away with the worst player of the group — and that’s sad.
Da Silva, Walter and Tyson are making the Lakers’ picks worse every day
Da Silva was off to a strong start in 2025-26 as the Magic faced a tough hurdle to overcome. Paolo Banchero was injured. The choice of who would replace the star forward in the starting lineup was easy. Da Silva was immediately included in that group.
The Magic second year student has emerged as an elite option to stretch the floor at the forward position. Da Silva is doing this in good measure. For the Lakers, who have struggled to shoot the ball well in the early parts of the new season, this is a cruel miss.
Speaking of things Los Angeles would love to see, wouldn’t a strong point offensive guard be great on this roster? If they had chosen Walter in 2024, they might have got that help.
The Raptors wing has been a tireless defender off the bench for Toronto. Walter effectively uses his athleticism to challenge his matchups, and this has resulted in him posting one of the highest defensive ratings on the team per 100 possessions.
The 19th overall pick from 2024 is also connecting on 42.9 percent of his threes. Granted, Walter is only attempting 2.6 3-point attempts per game. Still, like Da Silva, his skill set would be a welcome addition to the Lakers.
Tyson is giving the Cavaliers a similar two-way boost. After a quiet rookie season and a college career that included plenty of on-ball responsibilities, the Cavaliers wing has adjusted to his role as the type of off-ball star every contender craves.
With all due respect to Knecht, each of these players is bringing much more to their teams than the Lakers are bringing to the table at this point. Currently, it is a grim reality for the player who once thrilled the imagination of everyone in Los Angeles.
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