Jazz To Sign-And-Trade Walker Kessler To Lakers

According to Charania, Kessler will sign a four-year, $130MM contract, while Utah receives unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 from L.A., along with first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030. Charania adds (via Twitter) that the big man’s new deal with the Lakers will include a fourth-year player option and a full (15%) trade kicker.

No players will be sent to the Jazz in the trade, per Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).

The 22nd overall pick in the 2022 draft, Kessler appeared in 201 games during four seasons with the Jazz, showing intriguing potential as a rim-protecting defensive anchor who can control the boards.

The 7’2″ center was limited to just five games in 2025/26 before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery in the fall, but was very effective as a rebounder (12.2 RPG) and shot blocker (2.4 BPG) across 58 outings (all starts) in ’24/25. He has also averaged 11.3 points and 1.8 assists in 30.1 minutes per game over the past two seasons.

However, the Jazz didn’t sign Kessler to a rookie scale extension last fall. And despite multiple reports indicating that they envisioned re-signing Kessler to complement the frontcourt duo of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen, negotiations between the two sides got off to a rocky start this offseason, with the 24-year-old said in mid-June to be unhappy.

Utah reportedly put an offer worth roughly $140MM on the table, but was said to be inflexible on the structure and unwilling to do less than five years. Unsatisfied with the Jazz’s pitch, Kessler took meetings with multiple suitors when free agency opened on Tuesday. Los Angeles was his preferred destination, tweets Charania, and Kessler was said to be the Lakers’ top target as they looked to use their cap room to land the sort of “A-list center” that Luka Doncic has coveted.

After LeBron James informed the Lakers on Tuesday that he plans to play elsewhere in 2026/27, the club was in position to leverage its $50MM+ in cap room to try to land one of the top two RFA centers on the board: Kessler and Pistons big man Jalen Duren. While top restricted free agents typically don’t change teams, the Jazz decided to cash out on Kessler rather than match a potential Lakers offer sheet that would’ve included a player option, trade kicker, and a higher average annual salary than they were comfortable playing.

Utah made out very well in the deal by securing two unprotected first-round picks and two swaps. As Bobby Marks of ESPN observes (via Twitter), the Lakers entered the offseason with five first-round trade assets and will give up four of them for Kessler. A 2032 pick swap is the only one of those five assets the team still has at its disposal.

Kessler’s departure means the Jazz will likely be in the market for another center this summer, though they did agree to re-sign Jusuf Nurkic, and Jackson can handle the position at times. While many of the top free agent options have come off the board already, Utah has significant flexibility below the luxury tax line and has the $15MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception available, notes Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Twitter link). The club will also generate a trade exception worth at least $15MM as a result of Kessler’s departure.

While the exact structure of Kessler’s contract isn’t yet known, it could start as low as about $30.2MM, which would leave the Lakers with just over $23MM in cap room, as well as the $9.4MM room exception, tweets Gozlan. Reporting on Tuesday indicated that teams around the league consider big man Sandro Mamukelashvili and guard Quentin Grimes likely to end up with the Lakers on deals worth at least $10MM or so annually.

The Lakers’ deal for Kessler is bad news for Duren. While the Kings are still said to be interested in a sign-and-trade for the All-NBA center, they’re not well positioned to create the cap room necessary for an offer sheet, reducing their leverage. And the Pistons have reportedly shown little to no interest in accommodating a sign-and-trade that sends Duren out of Detroit.