The Los Angeles Lakers desperately needed to bring in a quality center this offseason, and they went all out to acquire Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz via a sign-and-trade. The Lakers got Kessler for two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps, and gave him a four-year, $130 million deal. That’s a big commitment, and not everyone is a fan of it.
Yahoo Sports’ Ben Rohrbach ranked Kessler’s contract the second-worst handed out in free agency in 2026.
“It’s not just that the Lakers paid Walker Kessler an average annual value of $32.5 million, or about as much as the Miami Heat will pay three-time All-Star Bam Adebayo next season,” Rohrbach wrote. “It’s that the Lakers sent the Utah Jazz two first-round draft picks and two first-round pick swaps in a sign-and-trade transaction for the right to give an oft-injured center that deal.
“The Lakers gave up four future assets — ones that could be used to better build a roster around 27-year-old superstar Luka Doncic — to acquire Kessler, who averaged 9.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 25.3 minutes over 201 games across four seasons in Utah,” Rohrbach continued.
It should be pointed out that Bam Adebayo will make $49.5 million in 2026-27, so it’s not quite the same. But moving on, Rohrbach says the Lakers have now linked Luka Doncic’s prime to Kessler and Austin Reaves. He isn’t sure what to expect from this new-look team and thinks their hopes of competing for a championship hinge on their new center’s development.
Rohrbach then pointed to Kessler’s injury problems. The 24-year-old only played five games last season before he required season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Rohrbach then surprisingly added that it was the same left shoulder that cut short his 2024-25 season at 58 games, but that actually wasn’t the case.
Kessler had missed time for a variety of reasons. He was out due to a shoulder contusion, hip bursitis, thumb sprain, illness, concussion, and rest. Kessler has also declared his shoulder feels better than ever now, but Rohrbach isn’t convinced.
“The hope is that the surgery solved the 7-foot-2, 245-pound rim protector’s injury concerns going forward,” Rohrbach wrote. “The hope is that he plays somewhat commensurate with his production between injuries over the past two seasons — 11.3 points (on 67/29/54 shooting splits), 12.1 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, and 1.8 assists in 30.1 minutes per game over 63 appearances — or even better.
“But it is all just hope, Rohrbach added. “We have not seen it from Kessler.”
Now, Kessler had revealed that he had a labrum tear in his left shoulder since his days at Auburn. He had been playing through it and finally decided to have that surgery in 2025.
So, Kessler should be fine moving forward. The Lakers are likely to get the version that the Jazz got over the last two seasons. In 2025-26, Kessler averaged 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game. He also showed off some range by going 6-8 (75.0%) from three.
Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka is thrilled to have landed Kessler. He is not going to be as dominant as some of the great bigs the franchise has had in the past, but he should do well.
