The Utah Jazz willingly kicked the can down the road on how quickly their rebuild would be coming together when they decided to let Walker Kessler join the Los Angeles Lakers via sign-and-trade as a restricted free agent. That aspect of the equation cannot be overlooked when judging what the Lakers surrendered to get him.
Many critics cited the two unprotected picks and two first-round pick swaps as an overpay from the Lakers. On the surface, there is reason to believe Los Angeles gave up a lot. The less talked about part here is what the Jazz gave up by letting Kessler go.
Utah let the ideal long-term piece at center walk out the door. With their current roster, Kessler would have slotted in perfectly as the center that held everything together for the Jazz. Instead, it will be Jusuf Nurkic tasked with that role. That is more than a notable drop-off. It also provides a clear reason as to why the Lakers really had to sell them on the move with the picks that were offered.
Even without Kessler, the Jazz are a popular pick for many to make a strong leap up the standings in the West next season. Imagine how much more concrete that jump could have been with the young building block in the middle.
Lakers had to pay to slow down the Jazz's rebuild
What could the starting lineup have looked like for the Jazz in the upcoming season without giving up their young center? It would project to have Kessler joining Keyonte George, Darryn Peterson, Lauri Markkanen, and Jaren Jackson Jr.
That is a pretty potent group in which Kessler is the ideal complimentary piece.
Jackson's clear issues as a rebounder need to be offset by a big man who can clean the glass beside him. Kessler is one of the game's best when it comes to rebounding.
On top of that, the combination of him and Jackson would have given the Jazz a foundation to finally absolving themselves of the defensive woes that have plagued them for multiple seasons. It really would have been an ideal frontcourt setup in Utah.
This all comes before even mentioning an intriguing bench unit for the Jazz that would have easily rounded them into a playoff team in 2026-27. Years of tanking would have finally allowed Utah to reap the rewards on the court.
With Kessler, they had their starting center spot solved in the present and future. That is what the Lakers paid to have undone. There are several ways to justify Los Angeles' price tag for getting this deal done. This much can be comfortably added to the list.
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