The Lakers didn’t just pay for Walker Kessler. They paid for the idea of Walker Kessler next to Luka Doncic.
That’s the real story behind the move, and it explains why Los Angeles was willing to go so far to get the 24-year-old center this offseason. The price tag was massive: two unprotected first-round picks, two first-round pick swaps, and a four-year, $130 million contract.
Plenty of people around the league thought that was too rich. The Lakers clearly didn’t.
NBA insider Marc Stein said Kessler was the team’s top center target from the start, and that the front office viewed him as a long-term fit beside Doncic before the chase even began.
“Walker Kessler, as established in free agency’s early hours, was always the Lakers’ No. 1 target this offseason.”
“However … Such are the realities of restricted free agency that it will also always cost lots to convince any incumbent team to surrender a player under RFA control. The Lakers feel this as acutely as anyone this summer. To establish a pathway so quickly after the marketplace opened to pry Kessler away from the Jazz required them to surrender two future first-round picks (fully unprotected in both 2031 and 2033) and two first-round pick swaps (2028 and 2030) in addition to signing Kessler to a new four-year, $130 million contract.”
Stein also pointed to the Luka trade as the reason the Lakers felt comfortable going this big. Los Angeles landed Doncic from Dallas in February 2025 for just one unprotected first-round pick in 2029, along with Anthony Davis and Max Christie. Austin Reaves stayed out of the deal, and that mattered.
“Yet I’m told that the Lakers were emboldened to go to such lengths to acquire Kessler in large part because they acquired Luka Doncic from Dallas on such favorable terms in February 2025. As hard to believe as it continues to be nearly 18 months since The Trade was consummated, Doncic was somehow pilfered from the Mavericks with just one unprotected first-round pick in 2029 leaving Lakerland.”
“That solitary future first was packaged with Anthony Davis and Max Christie to land Luka … with the Lakers also successfully keeping Austin Reaves out of the trade. The trade assets preserved in that heist, in other words, helped nudge the Lakers to a place where they believed they could withstand spending so big on Kessler.”
“They, too, had promised Doncic a top-flight center in the summer of 2026 as far back as last summer, when he committed to sign a three-year, $165 million extension. The Lakers are thus convinced that, pricey as it was to pull off, they have duly delivered the best two-way big man Doncic will have played with through his first nine NBA seasons.”
Getting Utah to cooperate was always the hard part. Because Kessler was a restricted free agent, the Jazz held the leverage.
Even if the Lakers had pushed harder with the contract, Utah could have matched it. So Los Angeles went the sign-and-trade route and sent out the draft capital needed to make the deal happen.
Not everyone loved the move. Yahoo Sports’ Ben Rohrbach called Kessler’s four-year, $130 million deal the second-worst contract in 2026 free agency. The combination of the money and the draft haul raised eyebrows, especially with Kessler’s injury history.
He has dealt with several injuries during his NBA career, including shoulder surgery that cost him last season after he played only five games.
Still, the Lakers are betting on what Kessler can do when he’s on the floor. In the 2025-26 season, he averaged 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.8 blocks before going down with an injury. His rim finishing, rebounding, and defense are exactly the kind of tools that make sense next to Doncic.
Los Angeles paid a steep price, no question. But the team believes a top-tier center is essential to any great Lakers roster, and after getting Doncic at what they viewed as a bargain, they decided Kessler was worth the cost.
Now the bet is simple: whether this pairing can push the Lakers back toward championship contention in the post-LeBron James era.
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Lakers May Be Watching Another Ideal Wing Slip Away
Peyton Watsons rise in Denver this past season has put him squarely on the radar of teams looking for a long, switchable wing, and the Lakers are among the clubs that have taken notice. The appeal is obvious from their side: Watson fits the kind of two-way mold that tends to matter in the West, and as a restricted free agent he is the sort of player who can quickly become expensive to pry loose.
The problem is the path to getting him looks murky. Los Angeles does not have the draft capital to satisfy Denvers asking price in a sign-and-trade, and its recent move for Walker Kessler has only tightened the margins on any bigger swing. With limited trade flexibility and other teams, including Atlanta, also circling, the Lakers may end up watching another ideal wing get out of reach. [Read more 🡒]
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The price on Bronny is still very much a moving target, but the Lakers are not expected to treat him like a throw-in if the situation gets serious. A trade built around a second-round pick and a roster-fitting player has been floated as the kind of framework that could get attention, though the asking price could shift if the whole thing becomes tied to LeBrons next stop. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Just Let Another Crucial Defensive Answer Slip Away
The Lakers spent part of the offseason searching for more defensive bite, and Lu Dort looked like the kind of answer that could have changed the tone of the roster. His physical perimeter defense and ability to take on difficult assignments made him a natural fit for a team that has too often needed someone to absorb the toughest wing matchups. Los Angeles also had enough draft capital to stay in the conversation, which made the decision not to push harder feel like more than just a missed opportunity.
Instead, the Lakers went in another direction, adding Walker Kessler and signing Sandro Mamukelashvili while the Dort path disappeared from view. The larger issue is not simply one player leaving the board, but how many of these choices have stacked up for a team still trying to build a defense it can trust when the games tighten. [Read more 🡒]