The good news, as any Los Angeles Lakers fan will quickly tell you, is that Luka Doncic has his big man, has a guy whose paint presence can cover Doncic’s defensive flaws and whose dunk capacity gives Doncic the credible interior lob threat he needs on the offensive end. That big man is Walker Kessler. But the bad news, cynics will say, is that the Lakers overpaid for Kessler, both financially and in terms of future assets.
The Jazz did well to hold onto the notion that they were bringing back Kessler and paying him in restricted free agency, despite a crowded frontcourt. Because they owned Kessler’s RFA rights, the Jazz had enormous leverage and ransacked the Lakers’ asset cupboard, taking two first-round picks and two pick swaps, all just to hand over the right to pay Kessler four years and $130 million, with a player option.
It was a massive overpay for a player who has obvious talent but still needs to show some on-court production–in 201 games over four seasons, he averaged 9.5 points and 9.3 rebounds, plus 2.4 blocks per game. The Lakers are betting they’re right about the upside of Kessler, who will turn 25 later this month. Considering the cost, they’d better be.
Lakers Were Eyeing Mitchell Robinson
But part of the motivation for paying the cost that the Lakers paid is the notion of what else was available to the team. Despite rumors that they would push for Jalen Duren of the Pistons, Detroit does not have a frontcourt logjam and never had an intention of moving their young star. And if Kessler had not worked out, the Plan B was unsightly at best.
Maybe even disastrous.
It was oft-injured Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. We reported before free agency that those in New York thought the Lakers would be the team that plucked Robinson, and that would have been the case had the Jazz not given in and traded Kessler.
Lakers Had a Serious Drop-Off After Walker Kessler
In sizing up the Lakers’ offseason, Jovan Buha of The Athletic pointed out that indications are that Robinson would have been heading to the Lakers.
Said Buha on his latest podcast: “My understanding was, talking to people around the league, the backup plan was probably going to be Mitchell Robinson and a center by committee with Mitchell Robinson and someone else. The drop-off from Walker Kessler to that …
“The conversation now is, all right, you locked in (Quentin) Grimes and Mamu, you add (Collin) Sexton and then you end up with like, Mitchell Robinson and maybe (Deandre Ayton) is still on the team, or you sign someone else on the free-agent market, I think we would look at this team completely differently if that was the offseason outcome. It would be a pretty disappointing outcome.”
Walker Kessler Finally Looking to Win
Disappointing to say the least. While there can be complaints–justifiable, even–about what the Lakers paid for Kessler, the team is in a much more hopeful spot with him on board.
Kessler, who played only five games because of a shoulder injury last year, is eager to get going. Not only is the arrow pointed up for the Lakers, but remember, the Jazz have essentially been tanking his entire career.
“I am just excited to play again, man,” he said. “Sitting out a whole year definitely puts a lot of things in perspective. You know, the heart grows fond in absence. I think flying low with this game again, and just realizing I just want to go win. Just play to win. Obviously, being able to do the stuff I was able to show in the first five games, I just think it will be fun to play. I think that’s my best version of myself, just going out there and playing to win.”
Lakers Overpaid for Newcomer to Avoid ‘Disappointing’ Plan B