Is Dalton Knecht playing tonight against Spurs? Latest on Hornets' new star's status for debut (Feb.7)

In the midst of his first season in the NBA, Dalton Knecht finds himself on a new team. Now on the Charlotte Hornets, many await the debut of the sharpshooting rookie.

Among the many moves the Hornets made at the trade deadline was parting with young center Mark Williams. They dealt him to the LA Lakers in return for Knecht, Cam Reddish and an unprotected first-round pick.

The Hornets are back in action Friday, taking on another new-look team in the San Antonio Spurs. As they prepare for this matchup, it is unlikely they'll have the services of Dalton Knecht. Per the latest injury report, he is questionable due to "trade pending."

This means the deal has been agreed upon, but hasn't been finalized by the league yet. The players involved could still be going through their physicals with their new teams, resulting in the delay. There is a slim chance the trade gets finalized and Knecht is made available, but it is unlikely he makes his debut Friday.

Knecht was putting together a solid rookie campaign for the Lakers as a complementary piece. He averaged 9.4 points on 35.8% shooting across 48 games for LA. Now, he'll look to provide spacing alongside the young duo of LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller.

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Gilbert Arenas has comical reason for Dalton Knecht being traded by Lakers

With their limited pool of assets, Dalton Knecht was always viewed as someone the Lakers could part with to make roster upgrades. Following the trade, one former player brought back his absurd take to claim why he was moved.

Knecht was one of two rookies on the Lakers this year, the other being LeBron James' son Bronny. The two would regularly be on the floor together in garbage time, but Gilbert Arenas noticed something interesting.

When it was reported that Dalton Knecht was being dealt to the Hornets, Arenas posted a recent clip from his podcast on social media. The snippet was a rant he had about Knecht never passing to Bronny during their late-game minutes.

"There's one motherf***** out there that's not passing the ball," Arenas said. "He decide he want to shoot all the time, and he play regular minutes."

It goes without saying that this isn't the actual reason why the Lakers traded Dalton Knecht at the deadline. Following the departure of Anthony Davis, the roster was in desperate need of a center. With Charlotte still embracing a youth movement, they likely coveted a player like Knecht.

Knecht brings size and length to the Hornets at the forward position and could end up becoming a key member of their core. With his ability to space the floor, he'll be a reliable kick-out option for Ball and Miller when defenses collapse on them.

As for Mark Williams, he's the ideal prototype of center to put alongside Luka Doncic. LA probably didn't want to part with Knecht, but addressing the center position was a far bigger priority.