NBA Offseason

Walker Kessler trade grades: Lakers get a rim protector, Jazz get more draft capital

Center Walker Kessler heads to Los Angeles and will provide much needed rebounding and rim protection. Chris Gardner / Getty Images

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.

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.

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.