Dalton Knecht speaks after failed Hornets trade: How close was he to making his Charlotte debut?

Dalton Knecht was hours away from making his Hornets debut before the trade fell through.

Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images

It's hard to not feel a bit of sympathy for each of Mark Williams, Cam Reddish, and Dalton Knecht. I imagine the three of them were sitting on a plane flying back to their respective cities after the trade that sent them across the country was rescinded thinking "how come he don't want me man?" like Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Knect was a member of the Charlotte Hornets for approximately 48 hours before his life was flip-turned-upside-down again and he was forced to return to the Los Angeles Lakers. After taking a few days to reflect on the failed deal, Knecht spoke to media members after the Lakers' Wednesday night loss to the Utah Jazz. His comments gave insight to the whirlwind of emotions he had experienced in the past week.

Dalton Knecht’s first comments since the Hornets trade was rescinded and he came back to the Lakers pic.twitter.com/0MYLznO5cT

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 13, 2025

Knecht on the emotions of the past week:

"It was a crazy time. Not too many people have done that and come back. But at the end of the day I just wanted to hoop. I told that to JJ (Redick) and Rob when I got back. That was the main thing: I want to go hoop. I want to play."

On keeping his mental focus when returning to the Lakers:

Note: Knecht played 17 minutes in Wednesday night's loss, scoring 10 points on 3/7 shooting.

"I was going to play my game whenever I returned...I was going to go out here and hit some shots and play some defense with my guys and just go out there and execute."

On the trade process and how close he was to suiting up as a Hornet:

"It felt like a movie, you know? After that game (a 122-97 romp over the Clippers on Tuesday, February 4th) I came back the next day, went to go get some shots up in the gym, 20 free throws in, I always shoot 25 before I shoot, and you know Rob called me up there and told me the news."

"It was hard. I got drafted here, LA means a lot, I hated that. I go to Charlotte in the morning (Friday, February 7th) with one of my guys and get introduced, start meeting all of those people, and fly out to Detroit which was called my 'debut game' to then, now I'm flying back to L.A."

"Rob called me and said 'you're coming back' and I was just excited to go out there and hoop no matter where I was going. I just want to go hoop. I told that to JJ and Rob. I get it's a business, so at the end of the day I told them, like, lets just go play basketball."

- MORE STORIES FROM HORNETS ON SI -

Two players the Hornets need to see more from down the stretch

Mark Williams vs. LaMelo Ball: Which Hornets star has the more uncertain future?

Player grades for key Hornets going into the All-Star break

New Hornets center Jusuf Nurkić excited to play with young core