The Los Angeles Lakers paid a handsome fee to acquire Walker Kessler this offseason. The 7-foot-2 center arrived via sign-and-trade in exchange for two unprotected first-round picks and two swaps. Kessler ultimately signed a new four-year, $130 million deal with the Lake Show. Already, detractors are wondering whether or not Kessler will validate such a price.
Kessler was kept off the floor for much of the preseason due to injury precaution, but when he did appear, he represented himself quite well. An 11-point, nine-rebound showing against the Golden State Warriors in just 16 minutes was a more than encouraging performance.
Not everyone's skeptical of how Kessler will fare with his new team. In the newly released NBA GM survey, Kessler received some votes in the category of player most likely to have a breakout season.
Some NBA GMs feel that Walker Kessler is on the verge of a breakout season for Lakers
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper led the category with 27 percent of the vote. Behind Harper with seven percent apiece were Cooper Flagg, Collin Murray-Boyles, Amen Thompson, and Cason Wallace. None of those names are totally surprising to see, especially Harper, who practically already had his breakout moment in last year's postseason.
And perhaps Kessler shouldn't be a surprising name either. After all, he's about to be playing with a much stronger supporting cast than he ever did in Utah. Superior perimeter defenders in front of him will mean that drivers will have worked harder and expended more energy by the time they rise up and challenge him at the rim.
On the offensive side of things, you know that Kessler is going to feast on endless opportunities created by Luka Doncic, particularly of the lob variety. With all due respect to the Jazz, they never had anyone close to Doncic's playmaking profile on the roster with Kessler (few teams do).
Everything comes down to health for Walker Kessler, Lakers
The elephant in the room for Kessler -- and the thing that his detractors will point to -- is availability. Last season, Kessler appeared in just five games for Utah. GMs who voted for Kessler to have a breakout campaign were clearly operating under the premise that Kessler will be playing 30-plus minutes a night and not miss a major chunk of games at any point ... but that's far from guaranteed.
Let's remain optimistic for now. If Kessler can stay on the floor, there's no reason he can't have the best season of his young career. The Lakers need him to be that guy for them to contend. How will Kessler deal with this pressure? We're about to see.
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