Lakers may have made huge mistake with Bronny James after waiving first-rounder Dalton Knecht originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Los Angeles Lakers finally trimmed their roster to 15 players on Monday night by waiving Dalton Knecht, who was presumed to be the odd man out throughout training camp. Another name who could have been in that position was Bronny James.

The Lakers remain invested in James even after his father decided to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers. James is excited to finally have the opportunity to play without his dad on the team.

“It's something different for sure. I'm excited for the experience. Experience something different with him not being here and to see how the staff treats me without him being here," James said.

This is going to be a season of firsts for James, as it marks his first time being on the Lakers roster without LeBron James. The young guard is hoping to take a leap in his third season, especially after playing significant minutes in the playoffs last season. Ultimately, he wants to make a name for himself.

“You guys know me as Bronny. My real name is LeBron. I've been doing this for however long, so I think it's a motivating factor for me just getting up every day and trying to prove myself as Bronny instead of LeBron,” he said.

The Lakers believe James can provide some help to the team. However, NBA writer Damien Peters believes they should have voided James’ guaranteed money and kept Knecht instead.

“This offseason they had the opportunity to void Bronny James’ guaranteed money. They had the opportunity to waive him. They had the opportunity to roll with Dalton Knecht and Jaden Hardy instead. But he remains on the roster. I don’t see him as part of the guard rotation this season, but maybe they do,” Peters wrote.

The Lakers are hoping this doesn't turn into a situation like Knecht's, in which they guarantee a player money only to end up absorbing the cost of his contract. That is the risk of guaranteeing money to a player like James, particularly when he still has to prove himself at the NBA level.

If James doesn't develop the way the Lakers hope, keeping him on the roster could become a mistake. After all, they guaranteed Knecht money last season, and that commitment has now become dead cap space. If James doesn't perform as expected, the Lakers could find themselves in a similar situation a year from now.

More NBA news:

• 76ers' LeBron James wanted to be drafted by Eastern Conference powerhouse instead of Cavaliers

• Lakers could sign ex-Mavericks lob threat, former Luka Doncic teammate waived by Dallas

• Lakers face brutal $4.2M hit after Dalton Knecht mistake made one year ago comes to light

• Warriors' Jimmy Butler knows when he'll return from ACL injury, keeping his target date a secret