Walker Kessler's rich new contract with the Los Angeles Lakers has been the subject of plenty of critique. Not everyone has gotten behind the hefty investment that Rob Pelinka and company made by forking over roughly $129.5 million over four years to the former Utah Jazz center.
To be fair to the skeptics, there is a degree to which the Lakers are paying for the upside here, rather than the product that has been on display to this day. The centers who are making more annual average salary on their current deals all have a clear commonality: they have been All-Stars.
The closest center to Kessler, in terms of finances, who has never played in an All-Star Game would be Myles Turner, currently making $27.2 million on average. Jakob Poeltl is due to overtake the Milwaukee Bucks big man in that category once his new extension ($28 million AAV) kicks in during 2027.
The bar here is clear: the Lakers are expecting Kessler to give deliver play that is akin to an All-Star next season, and over the duration of the contract as a whole. With Luka Doncic around, that should be a healthy gamble for Los Angeles.
Lakers are looking at Walker Kessler as a borderline All-Star at worst
Some may be thinking an All-Star appearance may be too lofty of a goal for Kessler, under the impression that his limited skill set offensively would keep him out of the festivities. To that argument, three-time All-Star Rudy Gobert gets a good chuckle.
Growing into those type of honors is a doable feat for Kessler, who has been an elite defensive center and a solid offensive player during his time with the Jazz. The argument there would be that Doncic will undoubtedly maximize his new big man on the offensive end.
Luka has made far worse players look more than capable throughout his career. Kessler is arguably the best center that Doncic has ever played with from a two-way talent standpoint.
The only real challenger for that distinction is Kristaps Porzingis. The problem there was that the former Dallas Mavericks running mate had not yet become the type of player who could willingly mesh his game with Doncic.
Kessler has already talked about doing all the things that will help make Luka's life easy. In exchange, Doncic will do the same for him.
The Lakers paid Kessler like the third star of this team. Having Doncic to set him up should give the new starting center in Los Angeles every opportunity to look like just that. That could be the needed push to elevate the highly-priced acquisition to being well worth the money of his new deal.
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