Lakers Must Ditch Walker Kessler Dreams amid Latest NBA Trade Rumors
The Los Angeles Lakers, by way of the NBA rumor mill, have made it perfectly clear they'd love to fill their center void with a trade for 23-year-old paint protector Walker Kessler.
If the story of the Lakers' 2025 offseason search for a big man is ever made into a movie, Kessler has become a prominent enough part that he'd have to be played by a notable actor.
It's beyond time to let this dream die. And not for the fact that the Utah Jazz almost always try to squeeze their trade partners for all of the assets they can get.
The bigger issue here is that Kessler isn't even available and has been "unavailable for some time," per NBA insider Marc Stein. Oh, and for anyone wondering whether L.A. might pivot toward a different Jazz big man, Stein added that the recent rumor of the Lakers possibly having interest in John Collins "is a mischaracterization."
This is all a long-winded way of saying that L.A.'s prayers for an impact post player won't be answered in Salt Lake City. So, why do the Lakers seem so laser-locked on looking there?
Kessler could be a great get, sure. He cracks the short list of the league's best rim protectors, and the next Lakers' center could be tasked with extinguishing a lot of defensive fires behind the perimeter trio of Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and 40-year-old LeBron James.
Kessler, a career 66.3 percent shooter, also happens to be an uber-reliable finisher from close range, so he could feast on all of the prime scoring chances created by the Lakers' stars.
On paper, he looks like he'd be a hoops hero in Hollywood.
In reality, though, he's never going to get there.
This center search is far too important for the Lakers to waste more time and resources in pursuit of an impossible target. Not to mention, if this report is merely a leverage play on the part of the Jazz, then that means the asking price for Kessler is never going reach for the affordable range for the Lakers.
So, again, why bother continuing to entertain this idea?
L.A., admittedly, probably won't find a better fit than Kessler. Maybe putting Reaves up for grabs would change that, but it doesn't sound like that's happening. You know who else the Lakers won't find a better fit than: how about Nikola Jokić, Victor Wembanyama or all the other centers who, like Kessler, they can't afford?
They aren't wasting any mental space on those harebrained ideas, so why is this Kessler stuff any diferent?
The Lakers need to turn their attention toward realistically obtainable options. And fast. The trade market is hyperactive. The draft is here. Free agency will arrive in short order. The time to upgrade the roster is right now.
L.A. must sniff out opportunities to actually do that, because leaving the center rotation intact clearly isn't an option. The paint-punishment the Lakers endured in their first-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves proved as much.
L.A. needs to start barking up other big-man trees. What do the Brooklyn Nets need to let go of Nic Claxton? Is there a discounted deal for Kristaps Porziņģis that might make sense? Is there any reason to believe this club could keep Robert Williams III upright? Could any draft-day deals solve this issue? And what are the fallback options in free agency if the trade market fails to fill this void?
These are the questions the Lakers should be aiming to answer. And they can, as soon as they let go of these Kessler plans that obviously aren't coming to fruition.
