It turns out the Los Angeles Lakers’ interest in Walker Kessler would have painted them into a $120 million corner.
According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Utah Jazz previously rebuffed offers from the Lakers, among others, for their 7’2” behemoth. As Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal notes, the Jazz also flinched as giving Kessler an extension ahead of this season worth around $120 million—a commitment for which Los Angeles would have been on the hook if its pursuit of the 24-year-old had been successful.
In hindsight, the Lakers are better off without Kessler
The money here is not the problem, per se.
A $120 million price point is bound to incite sticker shock, but if we assume it was a four-year deal at a flat $30 million per season, the contract would top out at 18 percent of the salary cap. That is reasonable money for a starting center—particularly for someone as skilled at protecting the rim as Kessler.
Yet, acquiring and then extending Kessler could have proved problematic under the circumstances. He went on to suffer a left shoulder injury that required surgery, and will miss the rest of the season. In a universe where the Lakers land him, they would currently be without any first-round picks to trade, and without their starting center who might’ve inked a nine-figure extension.
It’s not just about the injury situation, either. Forking over your crown-jewel assets for someone you almost immediately have to turn around and pay is always risky business. It carries real downside when you’re talking about superstar acquisitions. It is even dicier territory for one-position players with dominant strengths who don’t have that star quality.
More options are now at the Lakers’ disposal
Without a Kessler trade and subsequent extension on the books, the Lakers are teeming with flexibility.
Team president Rob Pelinka will have one first-round pick to dangle at the trade deadline, and can move up to three first-rounders over the offseason. That scenario isn’t available to L.A. if it swings a Kessler deal.
The Lakers are also in line for over $55 million in cap space this summer—while accounting for Austin Reaves’ cap hold after he declines his player option. If they believe Kessler is healthy and still an excellent fit, they can offer him a contract in restricted free agency. The Jazz will have the rights to match any deal, but they have already shown they have a dead-walkway point. Los Angeles can use that information to its advantage.
Not that the Lakers have to go after Kessler. Missing out on him paved the way for them to roll with Deandre Ayton (player option for next season), who has by and large been as good as they could have hoped. Jaxson Hayes, meanwhile, has been waaaay more reliable than expected. The Lakers could decide retaining them and adding a third lower-profile big man for less combined money than it’d take to bag Kessler is the more prudent course.
This is all to say: The Kessler option isn’t off the table just because the Lakers failed to trade for him already. But as his apparent contract hopes prove, a whole bunch of other, potentially better scenarios would have vanished in a puff of smoke if he were on the roster right now.