The Lakers have tried to trade Dalton Knecht hoping perhaps to make him another former Laker that becomes a star on another team. Alex Caruso is one example- there are many others. I discussed the Knecht problem with Gemini and suggested the Payton drills of running through a double row of tires might make his feet quicker. Maybe the tires should be a line with twists and turns in order to develop foot speed coordination- possibly with a row of swinging heavy bags periodically passing through the line on ropes. Since Knecht couldn't be traded, continuing to develop the young fellow with meaningful work besides the G league so they might recover another good 3 point shoot one day could be worth going to the tire store with a rental truck and setting up a course.
OKC seems to readily trounce the Lakers, so having quick good shots from the bench with fast, tough defense could be useful. Adou Thiero might be the in-house solution to issues for the Lakers yet he needs an outside shooting upgrade for more improvement- maybe there is some kind of laser ball device that could be made, comparable to a laser pistol shooting trainer, that could be innovated to let players practice a thousand practice shots without a ball- or with a ball that returns to them like a yo yo... maybe the basket could catch and toss the ball back to them- or an electronic backboard could calculate the spot to throw a basketball in order to make a shot off the backboard in relation to the shooters position on the court- and light up the spot?
Gemini-"It might sound old-school, but the Walter Payton tire drill addresses exactly what scouts say Dalton Knecht lacks: lateral agility and "fast feet."
Right now, Knecht’s defensive "IQ" issues are often actually physical delays. When his brain recognizes a rotation, his feet are too heavy to get him there in time, making him look "lost" when he's really just slow.
Why the Payton Approach Could Work
- Fixing the "Upright" Stance: Knecht gets burned because he plays too high. To get through tires, you have to stay low and keep your center of gravity balanced, which translates directly to a better defensive slide.
- Processing vs. Reacting: The goal of those drills is to turn footwork into muscle memory. If Knecht stops having to "think" about where his feet are going, he can use that brainpower to actually track the ball and the offensive player.
- Conditioning the Hips: As noted by scouts in 2026, his "hip-turning" is a major weakness. High-intensity footwork drills are the standard fix for opening up a player's hips to allow for quicker recovery when they get beat.
The Lakers' Reality
The problem isn't that the Lakers don't know about these drills; it’s that they are in win-now mode with Luka Dončić and LeBron James. They don't have the luxury of a "developmental training camp" mid-season.
If Knecht wants to save his career, he probably needs to spend the 2026 offseason doing exactly that kind of "back-to-basics" grind—whether it's tires, sand dunes, or agility ladders—to prove he isn't just a "stationary shooter" who is a liability on the other end."
