Walker Kessler did not like what he was being offered by the Utah Jazz in restricted free agency. He decided to go out and find a new home, hoping the Jazz would work with him and that new team on a sign-and-trade. Luckily for him, that’s exactly what he found in the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kessler is set to sign a $130 million deal over four years and being traded to Los Angeles in exchange for the Lakers’ 2031 first-rounder, 2033 first-rounder and first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030. The Lakers finally have their big man, and believe their core of Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and Kessler will lead the next era of Lakers basketball.
Is this the right move? Should the Lakers have given up so much of their draft capital to sign Kessler is that deal? Let’s bust out the red ink and slap some grades on this trade.
The Utah Jazz have built something scary
Esfandiar Baraheni
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Over the last year, the Jazz have slowly built out a roster that can be dynamite offensively, sustainable defensively, and poised to throw the. Themselves into the playoff conversation in a stacked Western Conference. I know that sounds lofty for a team that won just 22 games last season and was in the bottom 10 in offense and defense, but that doesn’t tell the full story. The Jazz have been in tanking mode. And now after drafting Garen Peterson, it finally paid off. They have a launch pad to reach the next level. So, Here’s how they do it. It all starts with their offensive scheme, powered by their young head coach, Will Hardy, and how he puts his players in a position to succeed. Hardy wants the Jazz to play fast, share the ball, and keep defenses guessing. The Jazz were in the top 10 last season in transition possessions, handoffs, cuts, and off-screen actions. And what all of that movement and misdirection from the Jazz offense did was simplify life for their young guards, Keyonte George and Ace Bailey. George, in particular, broke out for the Jazz last season, averaging a career-best 23.6 points per game while dishing out over 6 assists and shooting 37% from three, showing promise that he’s turning into an elite offensive star at his position. Meanwhile, the fifth overall pick from the 2025 draft, Bailey also showed off a potent shooting ability with Hardy running him off of pin-downs to weaponize his scoring. It helps that the roster of the Jazz are building. adheres to the style that their coach wants to play. Between Larry Markinen, the newly acquired Jaren Jackson Jr. Bailey, George, Isaiah Collier, Bryce Sensibaugh, the Jazz have the players who can wear multiple hats offensively and be a threat from anywhere on the floor. The Jazz’ success in recent years of getting the most out of their guards should make any Utah Jazz fan ecstatic that they selected Darren Peterson with the 2nd pick in the 2026 draft. He is The best guard prospect in his class and arguably the best guard prospect of the last few seasons. He had an up and down freshman year with Kansas, mired by injuries and inconsistent playing time that made many question whether he could live up to the expectations that come from being the number one ranked prospect coming out of high school. But the Jazz are a perfect team for his game to blossom, exactly for the same reason George and Bailey did. Coach Will Hardy will make Peter life a lot easier. Peterson is a true 3-level scorer who can handle the ball, knock down shots off of the catch and on pull-ups, and his ability to get to the rim with his speed and agility adds a dynamism the Jazz just didn’t have before. And unlike the other top 5 draft picks, Peterson is entering a situation where he won’t be overtaxed with the burden to create everything for his team. Besides, where Peterson is truly lethal is off of the. Ball where he can score in a variety of ways, attacking gaps, knocking down shots, and using his gravity to create for his teammates. In that sense, Peterson is a perfect match for Hardy’s offensive system. And not just that, but he also has the ceiling of a future MVP candidate and all NBA player. That’s how good he is. So even with a rookie coming in, their offense should be very good, but it’s their defensive potential that will make them a playoff. Jazz fans should have confidence in Jackson’s ability to elevate any defense. The Grizzlies were in the top half of the league in defensive rating every year of Triple J’s career, and they had a backcourt of John Morant and Desmond Bains. And while it’s an extremely small sample, the Jazz were 31.4 points per 100 possessions, better on defense in the 72 minutes Jaren Jackson Jr. played for them last season. In short, he is one of the very best defenders at his position. In the league. And in the same way he anchored a young Grizzlies team to prominence, he’s going to do the same for Utah. This team has all the pieces in place to enter its competitive window. A young star with an unfathomable ceiling, a young coach with a nifty scheme that gets the most out of his players, a defensive anchor that like a tide, can raise all boats, and a dynamic roster that can elevate it all. The Utah Jazz are back.”,”ineligibleRegion”:[“BI”,”BY”,”CD”,”CF”,”CU”,”IQ”,”IR”,”KP”,”LB”,”LY”,”ML”,”NI”,”RU”,”SD”,”SO”,”SS”,”SY”,”UA”,”VE”,”YE”,”ZW”],”publisher”:{“@type”:”NewsMediaOrganization”,”@id”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/#publisher”,”name”:”The Athletic”,”url”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/”,”foundingDate”:”2016-01-25″,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”@id”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”url”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”contentUrl”:”https://theathletic.com/app/themes/athletic/assets/img/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”creditText”:”The Athletic”,”height”:”60″,”width”:”435″},”publishingPrinciples”:”https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/edit-guidelines/”,”sameAs”:”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Athletic”},”author”:[{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Esfandiar Baraheni”}]}
Lakers receive Walker Kessler
Kessler only played five games last season before a shoulder injury ended his campaign early. That didn’t stop him from getting a massive payday.
While the Lakers are locking up about 20 percent of their cap with him as the starting center, they’re finally getting a presence at the rim on both ends of the floor. For the last few years, the Lakers have pieced together the center position with Deandre Ayton, Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood. Kessler is one of the best rim protectors in the NBA, and he will be the guy tasked with cleaning up whatever Dončić and Reaves give up in drives on the perimeter.
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Kessler should own the boards too. During the 2024-25 season, he averaged 12.2 rebounds, with 4.6 of them coming on the offensive boards. It’s nearly impossible to keep him off the glass. On offense, he doesn’t have a ton of versatility, but he’s sure-handed and will score around the rim. There’s a belief he’ll be able to stretch the floor at some point — he was going to try to add that to his game last season but we only saw five games from him and eight attempts, so it’s hard to know if that’s actually a thing. The one issue for Kessler might be at the free throw line, but you’ll take that with everything else he gives you.
Kessler will be tested when defending in space, and I’d imagine the Lakers will defend a lot in drop coverage to give Reaves and Dončić time to recover.
The question people will have is whether the Lakers should have given up the rest of their draft capital for Kessler. They only have a 2033 second-rounder and a 2032 first-round swap left in the coffer. This is them emptying their draft assets in order to finish putting this team together. They also signed Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton in a flurry of moves, so they’re filling in this roster quickly.
But the Lakers have nothing left in the treasure chest to trade for a long time. They really have to believe Kessler is that guy in the middle and they have put enough defense around Luka and Reaves to contend in the West.
Grade: B+
Jazz receive 2031 first, 2033 first and pick swaps in 2028 and 2030
The Jazz had been posturing that they wanted this super-big frontcourt of Kessler, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen. Then, they’d have Darryn Peterson and Keyonte George in their backcourt. It was an interesting idea in a league that now really values offensive rebounding and rim protection.
That all went out the window when they found out they could get the rest of the Lakers’ draft assets. It’s hard to project the value of picks so far down the road because we don’t know what the lottery system is going to be after 2029. It’s a very Danny Ainge thing to just acquire as many picks as possible to use.
Now, the Jazz will have a more traditional lineup without three big men on the floor at once. They’ll focus on finding out if Peterson is the superstar he’s supposed to be and developing the young players to catch up to Jackson and Markkanen.
The Jazz are expected to make a push for the Play-In and playoffs this season. Keeping Kessler around would have helped ensure that happened.
Instead, they give their fans the gift of eventually praying on the downfall of the Lakers.
Grade: A-