Grading Blockbuster Walker Kessler Trade Between Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz

The Los Angeles Lakers made perhaps the single most shocking move of free agency on Wednesday when they orchestrated a sign-and-trade that landed them Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz.

ESPN's Shams Charania had the details.

The commitment, at first glance, is kind of mind-blowing. Two unprotected firsts, two pick swaps and $30-plus million per year is an incredibly steep asking price.

But in the context of everything L.A. did on Wednesday, it's easier to wrap your head around.

We'll try to do exactly that, while also analyzing the move from Utah's perspective, using the trusty A-F grading scale.

Utah Jazz: A+

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There's no question Kessler was a positive-impact player for the Jazz during the life of his rookie contract.

Utah was outscored when he was on the floor, but over the course of his four years there, its net rating was 3.1 points better when he played.

He's also one of the most prolific shot-blockers in the NBA today. Among players with at least 5,000 career minutes, he's 16th in career blocks per 75 possessions.

Would it have been nice to keep him as the Jazz are seemingly ready to turn the corner on this rebuild? Would he have made it easier to start winning? Absolutely.

But Utah's frontcourt is already pretty crowded, with Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., Kyle Filipowski and Jusuf Nurkić all under contract. Drafting Darryn Peterson could push some wings into more power forward minutes, too.

The Jazz, if healthy, should have more than enough talent to fill out a competitive rotation without Kessler.

So getting this kind of return (two unprotected first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps) is a genuine no-brainer. All four of those assets could have immense value.

This trade, in a way, expands the Rudy Gobert return, too. Utah famously received Kessler, four first-round picks and one pick swap when it sent Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Add what the Jazz then turned around and got for Kessler to that Gobert package, and it looks like one of the biggest wins in NBA trade history.

Los Angeles Lakers: C+

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In a vacuum, this looks like an absurd overpay for a soon-to-be-25-year-old center who's averaged just over 50 appearances per season for his career.

In four years for a rebuilding Jazz team, Kessler only put up 9.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 25.3 minutes.

Is that really worth a total of four picks (assuming both swaps actually happen), a $30-plus million annual salary and the forfeiture of over half your cap space (when you're one of the only teams in the league with any cap space)?

Again, if you're just looking at this one move, devoid of context, probably not.

But even if it was the only thing L.A. did on Wednesday, it wouldn't be worth an F (or maybe even a D). Playing with creators like Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves could supercharge Kessler's offensive numbers. And his rim protection will be a massive upgrade over Deandre Ayton's. He's also one of the league's best offensive rebounders, which is perhaps the game's most underrated form of shot creation.

He's going to make the Lakers a better team, and they had to be aggressive to push through Utah's rights as the restricted free agent's incumbent team. Had L.A. just signed Kessler to this offer sheet, there's a chance Utah would've matched it.

Turning the deal into a trade made it a lot more expensive, but it eliminated any uncertainty.

And of course, there actually is some pretty important context here.

In the wake of the Kessler news, Charania reported that L.A. would also be signing Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton, all of whom are on the right side of 30 and check boxes for team needs.

L.A. is remaking Luka's supporting cast on the fly, surrounding him with shooting and defense and looking like a potential contender.

Yes, they lost some important contributors from last season's 53-win team, including LeBron James, but the Lakers were plus-8.3 points per 100 possessions when Luka and Reaves played without LeBron.

Both will be back, and their supporting cast looks a lot more like a contender than it did 24 hours ago.