Stealing a restricted free agent is never easy. As such, there was already a fair amount of skepticism surrounding whether the Los Angeles Lakers could truly lure Walker Kessler away from the Utah Jazz, or pry Jalen Duren from the Detroit Pistons.
The Jazz have always held the money to fend off any rival suitors. Simply throwing an offer sheet at Kessler has hardly been viewed as good enough when it comes to believing he could be relocated to Los Angeles in the process.
Duren, meanwhile, hurt his own stock and payday in Detroit after a brutal postseason run. Some believed this could create an opening for the Lakers to outprice the Pistons and give the All-Star center a new home. There was just as much doubt surrounding that idea as there was Kessler.
This will not stop Lakers fans from photoshopping both restricted free agent centers into purple and gold jerseys. However, Dan Woike's latest assessment of the situation just might.
"The options aren’t considered particularly logical according to league sources. The expectation around the league is that the Utah Jazz will match any offer sheet Walker Kessler receives, and executives hold a similar view regarding Detroit and Jalen Duren."
Lakers will need to think beyond just Jalen Duren or Walker Kessler as center solutions
It is easy to understand why so many are enamored with the idea of adding either Duren or Kessler.
Duren would absolutely feast off the scoring opportunities created by Luka Doncic on offense. His defensive ability showed lapses in the postseason, but many have been willing to give the Pistons center the benefit of the doubt despite that.
Kessler controls the glass like an absolute beast. By comparison to Duren, Walker is more limited on the offensive end, but still has many of the same desirables when it comes to fitting with Doncic. Plus, the Jazz center can easily be argued as the superior player on defense.
The pipe dream of landing either one of these players has always been clear in its attractiveness. That hope always ignored the practicality of the pursuit, to a fair degree.
The Lakers have options beyond just Duren or Kessler, and by all accounts, they should be readying themselves to explore them. The alternatives may not be as attractive as those two young studs at the position, but they do come across as far more realistic.
Replacing Deandre Ayton as the starting center remains one of the clearest priorities for the Lakers this summer. The dream fit of Duren or Kessler is fitting in its description. Dreams are dubbed such often due to their disconnect from reality. That may just prove to be the case here.
Add us as a preferred source on Google