The Utah Jazz may have just turned a difficult Walker Kessler situation into one of the most expensive frontcourt gambles of the Luka Doncic era in Los Angeles.
After ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Los Angeles Lakers were acquiring Kessler from Utah for unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, plus first-round swaps in 2028 and 2030, NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor offered a blunt Jazz-side read on the move.
“LMAO. Wow. The Jazz make out like bandits here,” O’Connor posted on X. “Two firsts AND two swaps? You gotta be kidding me. All that said, Walker Kessler, if healthy, is an ideal fit for Luka Doncic. But man what a high price to pay. Huge risk.”
That is the Jazz angle in one sentence: Kessler may fit beautifully with Doncic, but Utah appears to be getting paid like a team surrendering a far more certain asset.
Jazz Turn Kessler Uncertainty Into Premium Lakers Draft Capital
For Utah, the timing matters as much as the return.
Kessler’s future with the Jazz had already become one of the NBA’s more complicated restricted-free-agent situations. ESPN reported in June that Kessler and the Jazz remained far apart even after Utah put a five-year, $140 million offer on the table. The same report noted that Kessler was limited to five starts last season before undergoing shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum.
That combination — a high-priced restricted free agent, a serious shoulder injury and a young Jazz roster still trying to define its next winning core — could have left Utah in a corner.
Instead, the Jazz reportedly extracted the kind of package usually attached to star trades: two unprotected firsts and two swaps from a glamour franchise whose long-term outlook is difficult to project.
That is why O’Connor’s “make out like bandits” reaction lands. The Lakers get the player who could solve their center problem. The Jazz get flexibility, optionality and multiple chances to profit if Los Angeles declines later in the decade.
Why the Lakers Were Willing to Pay for Walker Kessler
The Lakers’ interest in Kessler was not new.
Silver Screen and Roll reported earlier July 1 that Los Angeles viewed Kessler as its top free-agent target. The site also noted that the Lakers were chasing a long-term center solution and believed Kessler’s situation with Utah could create an opening.
The basketball fit is easy to understand. Kessler is a 7-foot rim protector who does not need high usage to matter. He can screen, dive, rebound and clean up defensive mistakes — all traits that make sense next to Doncic, whose best frontcourt partners have typically either spaced the floor or punished defenses vertically.
Kessler also has real production when healthy. NBA.com noted that before his season-ending shoulder surgery, Kessler averaged 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in five games while shooting 70.3% from the field. Reuters also reported that he ranked second in the NBA in blocks per game in both 2023-24 and 2024-25, while finishing fifth in rebounds in 2024-25.
That is the Lakers’ bet: Kessler is not a star creator, but he may be exactly the kind of defensive anchor and vertical threat Doncic needs.
The Risk Is Why the Jazz Return Looks So Strong
The problem for Los Angeles is not the player type. It is the total cost.
Kessler is coming off shoulder surgery. He is also reportedly signing a four-year, $130 million deal with the Lakers as part of the move. That means Los Angeles is not just trading premium draft capital for a center; it is also committing major long-term money to a player whose value depends heavily on health, mobility and defensive impact.
That is where Utah’s front office can argue it played the leverage game correctly.
The Jazz did not have to decide whether Kessler was worth an uncomfortable long-term number. They did not have to risk losing him for less later. They did not have to match the Lakers’ urgency.
Instead, if the reported terms hold, Utah turned one valuable but uncertain big man into four bites at the Lakers’ future.
For Jazz fans, that is the key difference between losing a homegrown defensive anchor and getting beaten in a transaction. Kessler may become exactly what the Lakers need. O’Connor acknowledged that part. But Utah’s return gives the Jazz years of optionality, and those distant Lakers picks could become especially valuable if the Doncic era does not age cleanly.
The Jazz still have to convert the assets. Draft picks do not protect the rim, and swaps only matter if Utah builds a better roster than Los Angeles in those seasons.
But as an asset play, O’Connor’s reaction captured the mood from Utah’s side: the Lakers got their center, while the Jazz may have gotten the kind of long-term haul that can reshape a rebuild.
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