Los Angeles Lakers insider Jovan Buha was recently asked an interesting question regarding Lakers youngsters Max Christie and Dalton Knecht, and he provided a thoughtful response.
Buha was asked to name an example of a player he’d trade Christie or Knecht for if the Lakers were among the top four teams in the Western Conference around the trade deadline.
“This is an interesting one,” he said. “Honestly, if the Lakers are top four in the West, I don’t know if I’d mess with it.
“It would have to be a no-brainer to trade either one of those guys, and I think based on the way that the Lakers have valued both Max and Austin [Reaves] in recent years, going back to the Kyrie [Irving] situation at the 2023 trade deadline, when the Lakers didn’t want to put Austin or Max in a potential trade for Kyrie…I look at Austin as a guy that (there is a) very high threshold for them to trade, and then I think the same will likely apply to Max and to Dalton.
“So, I think it’s gonna have to be — I don’t wanna say like an All-Star level player because I think’s there’s exceptions — but it would probably have to be that type of guy where the Lakers could cobble together a Vando (Jarred Vanderbilt) or a Gabe [Vincent] or maybe both and then throw in one of the young guys and then a pick or two for that type of no-brainer upgrade.”
Buha then named players like Michael Porter Jr. and Mikal Bridges as examples but noted that Bridges probably isn’t available now.
Christie is entering his third season at the NBA level while Knecht is about to begin his first. They are two of the youngest players on L.A.’s roster, although Knecht did have a lengthy career at the collegiate level.
The Lakers re-signed Christie this offseason to take him out of restricted free agency, giving him a four-year deal worth $32 million. The last year on the deal will be a player option.
The deal caught some people around the NBA by surprise, but the Lakers seem to believe in the 21-year-old and intend to play him “a lot” moving forward.
A bigger role could help him get more comfortable at the NBA level. Across two seasons with the Lakers so far, he has averaged 3.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game while shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from deep. He has had some bright moments but certainly has plenty of room for growth.
Knecht, for his part, fell to the Lakers in the 2024 NBA Draft, something he recently described as a “blessing in disguise.” In his final collegiate season, he averaged 21.7 points per game in efficient fashion, shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from deep.
He could play a role for the Lakers as a rookie. Knecht, a young player who was just drafted in the first round, is likely already seen as a positive asset around the NBA, and if he were to impress as a rookie, that would only become more true.
But ultimately, the Lakers probably aren’t anxious to give up any of their young pieces. So, they will need to take a close look at how to approach the trade deadline this season if they do indeed exceed expectations in the first few months of the campaign.
