It was never going to be easy for the Los Angeles Lakers to pry Walker Kessler out of Utah. The hope was that the team could simply ply Kessler with a massive contract offer, something too big for the Jazz to match and, indeed, they wound up doing just that with the four-year, $130 million offer that went to Kessler. But that was not big enough to scare the Jazz off–they planned to match the deal, and would leave the Lakers without the budding young center they so badly needed.
The Lakers could have gone higher–$160 million over four years?–to scare off Utah from matching, but would have left the team with very little flexibility to fill out the roster. So the Lakers bit the bullet and, basically, emptied the cupboard of draft assets, sending out two first-round picks and two pick swaps just to get Utah to not match the massive deal the Lakers were intent on giving to Kessler.
It was a lot and no doubt, an overpay. But was it the second-worst deal of the NBA summer?
Lakers’ Walker Kessler Deal Tabbed 2nd-Worst
Well, yes, according to longtime NBA analyst Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports. He ranked the worst deals handed out in the past month, and while Trae Young getting the strange four-year, $212 million from the Wizards was No. 1, what the Lakers gave up for Kessler was No. 2.
We’ll let him have his say but, really, he is wrong about some of the assumptions he makes about the Lakers move, and we’ll get into that, too.
He writes: “It’s not just that the Lakers paid Walker Kessler an average annual value of $32.5 million, or about as much as the Miami Heat will pay three-time All-Star Bam Adebayo next season. It’s that the Lakers sent the Utah Jazz two first-round draft picks and two first-round pick swaps in a sign-and-trade transaction for the right to give an oft-injured center that deal.
And he later adds: “It is all just hope. We have not seen it from Kessler. … The Lakers, as always, are banking on a lot of things going right for them to be able to compete, only now they have given away the assets they might need in the likely event something goes wrong.”
Lakers Did Overpay, But Had No Choice
Now, even the most ardent Lakers supporter would have to agree that the team paid a big price for Kessler, and even overpaid. But what is not acknowledged here is that the Lakers had no other choice. There were no other big men on the market, and they knew well they needed a big man to keep star Luka Doncic happy. The Plan B was to sign Mitchell Robinson from the Knicks, and that would have been a really poor move.
The Lakers gave up a lot, but that is what the market called for. It’s supply and demand. There are no other Kesslers on the market. Calling this the second-worst deal ignores that. Yes, the Lakers are out of assets, but they have a center they can mold for the next four seasons. That’s a very good thing and very hard to find.
Walker Kessler Is Not Injury Prone
And all would have to agree that Kessler is a bit of an unknown, as he has not gotten to play for a competitive team in Utah at all during his four years. But the evidence all can see when he plays is clear, too: He is an excellent shot-blocker, a great rebounder and the kind of rim-running big man that Doncic needs. Kessler has upside as a shooter, too.
The idea that he is injury prone is there, too, except that it has to be put in the context of the Jazz. They wanted Kessler to sit out in 2024-25 (he played 58 games) because they were trying to lose games. He could have played more. And the shoulder surgery he had last October was for a persistent problem–he could have played through it, or he could have had surgery months earlier before the season and returned to play.
But the Jazz wanted to lose last year, and it got them the No. 2 pick. Question whether Kessler will develop and improve–we should not call him injury-prone, however.
Lakers Ripped for ‘Worst’ Walker Kessler Deal