Lakers Trade Talks Being SABOTAGED by Dalton Knecht? | Wiggins Trade, Summer League Standouts!

Lakers Trade Talks Being SABOTAGED by Dalton Knecht? | Wiggins Trade, Summer League Standouts!

[Music] Well, if you have been watching or paying attention to the Lakers summer league team, then I imagine you have seen or heard about Dalton Connect not playing well. Up until this point, and only two games so far, mind you, he’s definitely not looked too good out there, neither offensively or defensively. averaging only about seven points per game, two assists per game, shooting an absolutely dreadful 25% for the field, 0% from beyond the ark. No, he hasn’t made a three-point shot, albeit out of only nine full attempts so far. But once again, not looking too good here for Dalton Connect. Neither offensively, and then arguably even worse on defense, too. Looking very unmotivated and not very locked in defensively. And combined with the offense and all the things that he’s looked and shown out there on the court, many fans have now said that he should be traded, removed from their team, given up on, and that he won’t amount to anything. And yes, all of those things have definitely been said and I have seen on NBA Twitter. So, with that in mind here, should the Lakers trade him? Should they give up on him? Is it maybe affecting his trade value or could it affect his trade value in a trade for Andrew Wiggins for example which we have heard about and that the he’d apparently want Dalton to connect in that trade. How does that affect that or does it affect it at all going forward? We’ll talk about that and simply about the Lakers summer league team and stand out so far. And well talking about Dalton connect and his very poor start to summer league here. I went through the stats but that’s only about half the battle here with him. I mean, the most shocking part to me is how unlocked in and how unengaged he has looked, especially on defense. Definitely not a good sign for him coming off, I’m not going to say a bad rookie season, not even close to it. Really had some good moments and especially during the early portion of it. being a regular member of the rotation and even a member of their starting lineup for some time in the 17 games or 16 games they was a starter for them put up nearly 17 points per game was their best three-point shooter in that time frame knocking down 39% of his three-point shots and a very high volume for a rookie showing to be a very good offensive player and absolutely lethal when he gets hot but that’s not been the Dolphin connect we’ve seen so far which is really shocking after a full NBA season now playing against summer league talent and primarily a bunch of college or international players that have never played in the NBA. Don’t think connect has really not played up to par and not up to expectations up until this point. And again, we’re only talking about two games here. So, I’m not about to overreact. I don’t think you should be overreacting to it. But again, obviously, yes, it’s not been good. He’s been uncharacteristically kind of unconfident out there, not getting to his spots on offense, and simply not looking like the guy we know he can be on offense. And you know what? I could live with that if he was showing improvement on defense and actually looking more engaged on defense, too. Though, up until this point, that’s simply not been the case with him, unfortunately. Not really playing defense aggressively. When he is, he’s not really looking that good and hasn’t shown any improvement or very little at all here. And that’s really been the primary disappointment for me anyways with Dalton Connect. I mean, we know what he can do offensively. That’s not a worry here or really shouldn’t be a worry in my opinion. A little cold streak of overnight from beyond the ark is not a big deal in my opinion. I imagine that sooner rather than later he’ll find his shot and get back on track there. But if he can show improvement and actually look to be pretty good defensively at the summer league competition level, then will he ever improve defensively at the NBA level? Obviously too early to say yet, but this has not been a good sign for it. Every time I’ve watched all connect, I’m looking more for his defense out there, and he’s really been a disappointment in that regard. And well, that kind of is the primary thing to point to with him here. I mean, Daltton Connect is not a Cole Swider or a Eric Dixon, a guy that’s not really that athletic and that you don’t really expect too much out of defensively. That’s not the case with Daltton Connect. He’s actually a pretty good athlete and simply has not translated that to the defensive level quite yet. I mean, talking about his vertical athletic ability, pretty sure the guy measured at like a 38 in vertical at the draft combine. Even his side to side and lateral athletic ability is definitely not that bad. He could be average or even an above average defender in the NBA. It’s simply about locking in defensively, becoming a better team defender, knowing where to be and when to go on the court at certain times and in certain defensive schemes. That’s what Dolan Connect has to improve at. And simply put, up until this point, he has not shown much or any real noticeable improvement. So, if you have been wondering about or curious about my evaluation for Dalton Connect so far, again, I definitely start by saying don’t overreact to it. We’re talking about two games and two summer league games here, mind you, but I wouldn’t take too much away from it offensively. Definitely wouldn’t overreact to that, but I would critique him defensively and am hoping to see more from him going forward. So, with that in mind here, does that translate to trade talk and Daltton Connects trade value? I really don’t think that does. Again, we’re talking about summer league here and not even a complete summer league yet. Not even close to it, not even halfway there yet. And if we’re talking about an Andrew Wigan straight package, I think it does absolutely nothing. I’ve seen a lot of fan discourse about this on Twitter. I think it’s kind of ridiculous and fans simply overreacting, per usual, to one game at a time and only remembering the last game with a player. I think it has little to absolutely nothing to do with Dolan Connect straight value. However, I will say that if it doesn’t change over time, then his trade value will go down. After all, Dalton Connect is an older rookie or was an older rookie for that fact is 24 going on 25 now. So, only probably has two years left to really be looked at as a prospect, maybe even less than that, rather than simply an NBA veteran that kind of is what he is at this point. So, compared to other rookies, Dalton Connect is running out of time here, which could indirectly or I guess directly affect his trade value, just not quite yet in my opinion. And well, then for the questions about since Dton Connect isn’t playing well, should we cave into the Miami Heat’s trade price for Dalton Connect, Rui Hatchima, and a first one draft pick because he’s not playing well and we want to overreact to that? And to that, once again, I would say no. I mean, I obviously like Andrew Wiggins. I’ve talked about this over and over. I would make a trade for him, but it has to be for the right trade price. I mean, I’d include Dalton Connect or Rui Aimura. Probably not going to trade for both of them unless I’m getting back a second round draft pick or two here, which apparently does not happen to be likely if the trade reports happen to be true. Though again, if we compare that to a trade that was just made, the LA Clippers trade, the three-team trade between the Clippers, Heat, and the Utah Jazz, I think that the Heat are bluffing about their Andrew Wiggins trade price. I mean, if a guy like John Collins can be traded for pretty much a second round draft pick in salary filler, then I’m not sure how he’d expect to get a really good player like Ruy Hatimra, a talented young player like Dalton Connect, even though yes, he’s not played well in summer league and a first round traffic with that for Andy Wiggins who although is very good and is a hard to find 3 and D wing, a big 3 and wing at that, it’s simply not going to be worth that much. And especially with the not so great contract that would come with him. So, no, I’m not going to cave in from Daltton Connect not playing well and up my trade price for Andrew Wiggins, but maybe I’m the crazy one here. Would you guys cave in and up your trade price to trade away Dalton Connect simply from two summer league games so far? Let me know your thoughts about that and how disappointed or not so great you have felt about Dalton Connect so far in summer league. But apart from Dalton Connect here, thankfully there have been some better players in their team. They did win a summer league game the other night after all against Miami Heat and they had a few standouts too. One of which actually being Bronny James only playing during the first half but he did score 10 points in the first half got an early steal and then threw down a pretty monstrous dunk right away at the beginning of the game. Looked very impressive for him and he’s definitely looking even a bit more athletic this year. Looking a lot more comfortable and still trying to be that defensive pest that JJ Reic wants him to become that the Lakers want him to become. And if he does eventually become that, or maybe sooner than we think, then could he possibly have a pathway to the rotation, maybe even this season? Well, I guess that’s dependent on the current guys ahead of him. Guys like Gabe Vincent, Jordan Goodwin, if they remain on the team, if one of them is traded, maybe salary dumped away from the team. That could be a possibility with Jordan Goodwin, then maybe there could be a pathway for Bronny James if they don’t get replaced by a different player coming in. And well, if he keeps this up and is able to translate it to the NBA level, not simply the summer league or G-League level, which he did play pretty well in last season, too, by the way, averaging over 20 points per game and shooting well from the three-point line, maybe he could become their new backcourt 3 andD player. That’s a pretty good point of attack defender, which they do need more of, by the way. So, here’s the hoping to that, but like I said with Dolan Connect, only looking at two games and actually only one half year for Bronny James so far. So, not going to overreact to it. But even apart from Bronny James, there is a current two-way contract up in the air. So, that’s definitely a guys like DJ Stewart, Cole Schwider, that’s what they’re fighting for. And between the two of them, they definitely have been standouts. DJ Stewart playing well in both games. Cole Schwider playing well in both games offensively, but Stewart being the better standout my opinion, especially in regard to two-way performance. I mean, everything from creating his own shot, making some plays for teammates, and getting to the rim, then playing some pretty pesky defense on the other end of the court. He definitely is throwing out a little bit. And if he can maintain this and keep it out throughout the Las Vegas summer league portion, then he definitely could be an option for that two-way contract. And well, I’d like to say the same thing about Cole Spider here, but I really don’t think I can. again definitely has played well through two games but then again is also 26 and really is not a good defender not really what their team needs at this point and isn’t really the best option for that two-way contract in my opinion again has played well but I don’t think he’ll get it and probably is not the best option for it nor can I say that for Darius Basley also has been talk about him but he’s actually not even two-way contract eligible at this point with him playing four years in the NBA that is the limit so no they unfortunately apparently can’t sign him to a two-way contract despite being younger than Cole Schwider himself. And well, I guess the kind of options for it and the current candidates for that two-way contract probably number one being DJ Stewart. Number two may be RJ Davis. Early reports said that he might be a two-way player for them, but then took an exhibit 10 contract with their team, aka a training camp contract. I for one liked him throughout college and watching him throughout college. He’s made some pretty good plays in summer league here. So maybe he could show out and compete for that two-way contract. And simply put, I like the fact that they have an available two-way contract open. It really helps to motivate the guys in the summer league team that aren’t on an NBA roster, either via two-way contract or standard contract. Gives them something more to play for and hope that they can eventually make the team. With all of that being said, though, what do you guys think? How do you feel about Dalton connect so far? And if his poor performance should lead to him being traded or decrease his trade value, how do you feel about that? How do you feel about the Lakers summer league team so far in general? The standouts from it, the team and how they played, and if you have any main takeaways from it. Let me know your thoughts about all of that in the comments down below. But I think that’ll pretty much do it for this one. And if you enjoyed the video, then I’ll greatly appreciate it if you dropped a like, subscribe to the channel if you have not already, and hit that notification bell to never miss out when I upload a video. But as always, thank you for watching and have a great day or night. [Music]

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