The Los Angeles Lakers would solve one of their two major needs by acquiring Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler this summer, but doing so wouldn't be simple or easy.
Kessler is a restricted free agent, meaning the Jazz have the power to match any offer that the Lakers theoretically make to the 7-foot-3 center. ESPN's Brian Windhorst has reported that the Jazz already have their own offer on the table to Kessler in the realm of $28 million. The Lakers, then, would have to exceed that offer by a margin large enough for the Jazz to walk away. This opens up a few different talking points for LA.
The Lakers would be in danger of overpaying Walker Kessler
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka might get looped into a dicey overpay for Kessler, even considering the center's value to a team like the Lakers in dire need of rim protection. In the modern landscape of the NBA salary cap, overpaying a non-superstar on a long-term deal can be very damaging to one's roster construction.
The Lakers can't make an offer to Walker Kessler until July 6, and then they'd have to wait even longer
Restricted free agents such as Kessler can't receive offers until July 6. Furthermore, once a restricted free agent (in this case, Kessler) receives outside offers, there's a 48-hour window in which the Jazz can decide whether or not to match the offer(s). This means that the Lakers could be waiting until July 8 to know about Kessler, which is a problem because...
The Lakers would miss out on other free agents by waiting and seeing about Walker Kessler
If LA were to do all of the above, they'd be prevented from spending the money that they've offered Kessler on other targets, leaving the rest of the NBA to swoop in and sign those targets while the Lakers have their hands tied during the aforementioned 48-hour window.
There's another detail the Lakers need to consider if they were considering offering Kessler a contract:
Lakers would need to renounce LeBron James and Rui Hachimura to sign Walker Kessler in restricted free agency
With LeBron's cap hold north of $60 million and Hachimura's north of $20 million, the Lakers simply wouldn't have enough cap space to offer Kessler something north of $30 million ... not until LA renounced both James and Hachimura and/or signed them to cheap deals.
This all leads one to the realization that the most likely way the Lakers could acquire Kessler is not through free agency at all, but rather through a sign-and-trade.
But who do the Lakers have to offer the Jazz in such a sign-and-trade? Austin Reaves? That's not a deal you want to do if you're LA, is it?
These are all the questions and details surrounding a potential Kessler-Lakers marriage, and, as I've outlined above, it's a union that would take a lot of difficult steps to manifest. Don't get your hopes up, Lakers fans.
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