The Los Angeles Lakers‘ biggest need entering this offseason was a top-quality center, and they addressed it by acquiring Walker Kessler via a sign-and-trade with the Utah Jazz. The Lakers went all out, as they gave up two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps to the Jazz and signed Kessler to a massive four-year, $130 million deal.
Now, what if even all this wasn’t enough, though, and Kessler didn’t become a Laker? Well, The Athletic’s Dan Woike reports they would have then likely gone after an NBA champion.
“Had it not been Kessler, the Lakers, according to team and league sources, would’ve likely tried to sign free agent center Mitchell Robinson, who left the New York Knicks to sign a three-year, $47.4 million deal with Boston,” Woike wrote.
Mitchell Robinson was a key role player for the New York Knicks as they won the NBA championship in 2026. The Knicks then managed to retain most of their free agents this offseason, but not Robinson. Owner James Dolan had made it clear they wouldn’t enter the second apron, and you knew at that point that the big man’s time in New York was up.
Robinson was arguably the best unrestricted free agent center on the market, with both Kessler and Jalen Duren being restricted. The 28-year-old had averaged 5.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.9 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game for the Knicks in 2025-26, primarily in a reserve role.
The Lakers would initially emerge as one of four potential suitors for Robinson, along with the Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, and Toronto Raptors. He’d stun pretty much everybody by signing with one of the Knicks’ great rivals instead.
The Boston Celtics landed Robinson on a three-year, $47.4 million deal, as Woike mentioned. He made it clear he wanted to stay with the Knicks, but it wasn’t to be.
In Robinson, the Celtics are getting an excellent defender and rebounder. Those skills were why the Lakers were looking at him. Now, Klutch Sports Group CEO Rich Paul didn’t believe this would be a good idea, though. Paul said Robinson wouldn’t be a good fit with Luka Doncic. He also doesn’t see him as a starter in the NBA.
Robinson is probably best suited to a reserve role. It would have been interesting to see what the Lakers would have done if they had gotten him. Would they have trusted Robinson to be a starter, or would they have kept Deandre Ayton and gone with him in that lineup once again? We’ll never know for sure.
The Lakers now don’t have to worry about who they should start at center after getting Kessler. He averaged 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game for the Jazz in 2025-26, and is one of the better young bigs in the NBA.
Now, Kessler played only five games for the Jazz before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery in November 2025, but is now fully healthy and raring to go. Kevon Looney and Sandro Mamukelashvili will back him up.
The Lakers signed Looney to a one-year, $3.9 million veteran’s minimum contract this offseason. Mamukelashvili, meanwhile, arrived on a four-year, $52 million deal.
