Лос-Анжелес Лэйкерс баг Уолкер Кесслерийг эгнээндээ нэгтгэхийн тулд ирээдүйн драфтын эрхүүдээ солилцооны наймаанд ашиглахаар боллоо.
Уолкер Кесслер Юта Жазз багийн санал болгосон нөхцөлд сэтгэл ханамжгүй байсан тул багаа солих шийдвэр гаргажээ. Үүний үр дүнд тэрээр Лос-Анжелес Лэйкерс багтай дөрвөн жилийн 130 сая долларын гэрээ байгуулж, солилцооны хүрээнд шилжлээ. Юта Жазз хариуд нь 2031, 2033 оны драфтын эхний тойргийн эрх болон 2028, 2030 оны драфтын эрх солилцох эрхийг авч байна.
Лос-Анжелес Лэйкерс баг Лука Дончич, Остин Ривз нарын эргэн тойронд шинэ бүрэлдэхүүнээ цогцлоохын тулд Кесслерийг сонгосон байна. Өнгөрсөн улиралд 12.2 rebound дунджилсан Кесслер нь будагтай талбайд бат бөх хамгаалалт үзүүлж, самбараас бөмбөг авалтаар багаа дэмжих үүрэг хүлээх юм. Багийн удирдлага түүнийг хамгаалалтын гол хүн хэмээн үзэж байгаа ч түүнийг хөгжүүлэлтийн болон хамгаалалтын хувьд сорилт хүлээж байна.
Юта Жазз энэхүү наймаагаар дамжуулан драфтын олон эрхийг цуглуулж, ирээдүйн бүрэлдэхүүнээ бэхжүүлэх стратегийг баримталлаа. Тэд Кесслерийг явуулснаар гурван өндөр тоглогчтой тоглодог хувилбараасаа татгалзаж, залуу тоглогчдоо хөгжүүлэхэд анхаарлаа хандуулах болно. Ийнхүү Лос-Анжелес Лэйкерс бүх драфтын эрхээ шавхан байж хүчирхэг төвийн тоглогчтой болсон бол Юта Жазз ирээдүйн хөрөнгө оруулалтаа баталгаажууллаа.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Walker Kessler did not like what he was being offered by the Utah Jazz in restricted free agency. He decided to go out and find a new home, hoping the Jazz would work with him and that new team on a sign-and-trade. Luckily for him, that’s exactly what he found in the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kessler is set to sign a $130 million deal over four years and being traded to Los Angeles in exchange for the Lakers’ 2031 first-rounder, 2033 first-rounder and first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030. The Lakers finally have their big man, and believe their core of Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and Kessler will lead the next era of Lakers basketball.
Is this the right move? Should the Lakers have given up so much of their draft capital to sign Kessler is that deal? Let’s bust out the red ink and slap some grades on this trade.
The Utah Jazz have built something scary
Esfandiar Baraheni
Lakers receive Walker Kessler
Kessler only played five games last season before a shoulder injury ended his campaign early. That didn’t stop him from getting a massive payday.
While the Lakers are locking up about 20 percent of their cap with him as the starting center, they’re finally getting a presence at the rim on both ends of the floor. For the last few years, the Lakers have pieced together the center position with Deandre Ayton, Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood. Kessler is one of the best rim protectors in the NBA, and he will be the guy tasked with cleaning up whatever Dončić and Reaves give up in drives on the perimeter.
Kessler should own the boards too. During the 2024-25 season, he averaged 12.2 rebounds, with 4.6 of them coming on the offensive boards. It’s nearly impossible to keep him off the glass. On offense, he doesn’t have a ton of versatility, but he’s sure-handed and will score around the rim. There’s a belief he’ll be able to stretch the floor at some point — he was going to try to add that to his game last season but we only saw five games from him and eight attempts, so it’s hard to know if that’s actually a thing. The one issue for Kessler might be at the free throw line, but you’ll take that with everything else he gives you.
Kessler will be tested when defending in space, and I’d imagine the Lakers will defend a lot in drop coverage to give Reaves and Dončićtime to recover.
The question people will have is whether the Lakers should have given up the rest of their draft capital for Kessler. They only have a 2033 second-rounder and a 2032 first-round swap left in the coffer. This is them emptying their draft assets in order to finish putting this team together. They also signed Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton in a flurry of moves, so they’re filling in this roster quickly.
But the Lakers have nothing left in the treasure chest to trade for a long time. They really have to believe Kessler is that guy in the middle and they have put enough defense around Luka and Reaves to contend in the West.
Grade: B+
Jazz receive 2031 first, 2033 first and pick swaps in 2028 and 2030
The Jazz had been posturing that they wanted this super-big frontcourt of Kessler, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen. Then, they’d have Darryn Peterson and Keyonte George in their backcourt. It was an interesting idea in a league that now really values offensive rebounding and rim protection.
That all went out the window when they found out they could get the rest of the Lakers’ draft assets. It’s hard to project the value of picks so far down the road because we don’t know what the lottery system is going to be after 2029. It’s a very Danny Ainge thing to just acquire as many picks as possible to use.
Now, the Jazz will have a more traditional lineup without three big men on the floor at once. They’ll focus on finding out if Peterson is the superstar he’s supposed to be and developing the young players to catch up to Jackson and Markkanen.
The Jazz are expected to make a push for the Play-In and playoffs this season. Keeping Kessler around would have helped ensure that happened.
Instead, they give their fans the gift of eventually praying on the downfall of the Lakers.
Grade: A-
