Trade deadline could be lucrative for Jazz's Walker Kessler

He hasn't played since the fifth game of the season, but the value of Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler's next contract went up this week.

The fourth-year center will be a restricted free agent this summer. He'll enter a market where there are very few available big men, and none with the combination of shot-blocking and youth that Kessler provides.

Utah Jazz are done with tanking after this season

Kessler's Jazz have an incentive to be bad this season. They owe a first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder that's protected for picks 1-8. If the pick doesn't convey this season, the Jazz owe the Thunder nothing. The Jazz would desperately like to ensure they finish with one of the NBA's four worst records in order to guarantee a top-8 pick.

But while the 2026 draft class is considered excellent, the 2027 and 2028 versions are less so. Plus, four seasons into a rebuild that began when the Jazz traded All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert in 2022, the Jazz are simply sick of tanking.

That's why they traded a bundle of picks and used much of this summer's cap space to trade for Jaren Jackson Jr. It's a sign the Jazz are ready to go for it with Jackson, Lauri Markkanen and young point guard Keyonte George, as well as this year's No. 5 pick, Ace Bailey. It also means they're very likely to bring back Kessler, since Jackson is better as a power forward than a center.

2026 free agent class is short on big men

For teams seeking big man help this summer, the options suddenly became more limited. The Golden State Warriors traded for Kristaps Porzingis and have the inside track to re-sign him. The Washington Wizards used cap space to land Anthony Davis. The Indiana Pacers dealt for Ivica Zubac. The Boston Celtics added Nikola Vucevic and will get the first crack at bringing him back.

The free-agent options besides Kessler are uninspiring. There are either older veterans like Vucevic, Jusuf Nurkic and Brook Lopez, or injury-prone bigs like Robert Williams III and Mitchell Robinson. Kessler's lone competition on the market is Deandre Ayton, since Jalen Duren won't be leaving the Detroit Pistons after his All-Star season.

That means Kessler, whom the Jazz didn't seriously attempt to extend last summer, should get some big offers in restricted free agency. And the Jazz have little choice but to match, especially as they'll be operating above the salary cap thanks to the big contracts of Jackson and Markkanen.

Kessler's market improved significantly by him doing nothing but resting his injured shoulder. He's one of the big winners of the trade deadline, and he wasn't even involved.