The Los Angeles Lakers have their new backup center: Kevon Looney. The two sides agreed to a one-year, $3.9 million deal on Tuesday, per ESPN's Shams Charania, in a move that actually puts more pressure on Walker Kessler than there already was.
Kessler played just five games last season for the Jazz due to a torn labrum in his shoulder, and although he averaged 65 games over his first three seasons, there are still concerns about his health.
It's not reassuring that if he had to miss time, Looney would take his place in the starting lineup, and he, too, is coming off an injury-riddled year in which he only played 21 games. Outside of that, the 30-year-old has been durable for most of his 11-year career. Another bonus is that he has championship experience from his time with the Warriors, but he's not the backup you want as a contender in the year 2026.
In other words, the Lakers need Kessler's availability to mirror what it was during his rookie season in 2022-23, when he played 74 games. That might be a stretch, but the 65-game range could be more like it.
Walker Kessler's Lakers backup is Kevon Looney
Looney isn't the athletic, lob-threat center who fits well alongside Dončić, which LA could work around if he doesn't need to step into the starting role, but needing him to play more than 15 minutes nightly could be their downfall.
Rob Pelinka could look back and wish that he had kept Jaxson Hayes, who signed a two-year, $12 million deal with the Jazz. At least he is familiar with playing with Dončić, who is at the forefront of everything the Lakers' minds, which is why they paid a steep price for Kessler to begin with.
The soon-to-be 25-year-old will operate under much brighter lights in Los Angeles than he ever did in Utah, and that's enough of an adjustment. There will be far more expected of Kessler, and not just because of the price the Lakers paid for him, though that certainly will be a big factor.
If Kessler has to miss any amount of time, he will be judged for it, even though that'd be unfair. The same goes for LA, and that criticism would reach an entirely new level if it's Looney who the Lakers are relying on to fill his shoes in his absence, and that'd be what would happen, given the makeup of the roster.
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