{"id":104553,"date":"2024-11-01T16:21:09","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T20:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=104553"},"modified":"2024-11-01T16:21:09","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T20:21:09","slug":"lakers-rumors-potential-offer-for-walker-kessler-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/01\/lakers-rumors-potential-offer-for-walker-kessler-revealed\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Rumors: Potential Offer for Walker Kessler Revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly a week after <\/span>reports revealed the Lakers\u2019 interest<\/span><\/a> in Utah\u2019s <\/span>Walker Kessler<\/span><\/a>, there is new buzz of a potential offer for the Jazz\u2019s promising center.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers Rumors: Potential Offer for Walker Kessler Revealed<\/b><\/h2>\n

LA\u2019s Trade Chips<\/b><\/h3>\n

According to <\/span>The Athletic\u2019s Sam Amick and John Hollinger<\/span><\/a>, the Lakers\u2019 offer for Kessler is centered around starting point guard <\/span>D\u2019Angelo Russell<\/span><\/a> and draft capital. Amick and Hollinger also revealed the verdict on the rumored proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>While our Jovan Buha <\/span>recently reported the Lakers have interest in Kessler<\/span><\/a>, a Jazz source indicated the possible framework of a deal \u2014 <\/span>D\u2019Angelo Russell<\/span><\/a> and multiple first-round picks \u2014 would not be of interest. As noted above, though, there could be other Lakers iterations that might be of more interest.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Though not explicitly stated, the \u201cmultiple first-round picks\u201d in question may be LA\u2019s selections in 2029 and 2031. The debate over whether to include those picks has been a hot-button issue, with the organization reluctant to include them unless it\u2019s for a legitimate difference-maker.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kessler has begun to prove himself in his fourth season. In five games so far, the 23-year-old has averaged 8.0 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks. He has also shot 58% from the field on 6.2 attempts, but only 57% from the free-throw line.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the Jazz in the middle of a rebuild and Kessler becoming extension-eligible this summer, fans are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the big man\u2019s future in Utah. His promising growth, along with his standout play to begin this year, has rightfully put him on the radars of more established contenders. However, he has also made a clear case to stick around and help lift Utah out of purgatory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Potential Kessler Trade Remains Complex<\/b><\/h3>\n

Russell\u2019s name is often the first to pop up when discussing LA\u2019s potential trade assets. As great as he played in previous regular seasons, his lack of defense and disappearance in the playoffs hinder his case to stay. The fact that <\/span>Austin Reaves<\/span><\/a> has supplanted him in the scoring hierarchy also doesn\u2019t help (and neither does Reaves\u2019s <\/span>rumored \u201cuntouchable\u201d status<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

This is where trading for Kessler becomes even more complicated. The Jazz recently exercised Kessler\u2019s rookie scale team option<\/a> on Oct. 21. He’s making $2.9 million this year and\u2014assuming there\u2019s no extension\u2014$4.8 million the following year. The Lakers have several players making similar money, but Kessler\u2019s trade value is definitely more than a low-tier benchwarmer and some draft picks. The Lakers could still ask for Kessler as part of a larger deal, but the Jazz may not be receptive to the idea, considering they basically gave LA <\/span>Jarred Vanderbilt<\/span><\/a> last February. Vando has since turned into one of the purple and gold\u2019s best defenders alongside <\/span>LeBron James<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Anthony Davis<\/span><\/a>, and he\u2019ll be <\/span>a key part of the Lakers\u2019 defense<\/span><\/a> when healthy.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Kessler appears as a perfect fit next to the Lakers\u2019 stars, there are several roadblocks to acquiring him, none of which will get resolved anytime soon. As a result, fans will have to wait a little while longer before Davis and James receive any more help in the frontcourt.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly a week after reports revealed the Lakers\u2019 interest in Utah\u2019s Walker Kessler, there is new buzz of a potential offer for the Jazz\u2019s promising center. Lakers Rumors: Potential Offer for Walker Kessler Revealed LA\u2019s Trade Chips According to The Athletic\u2019s Sam Amick and John Hollinger, the Lakers\u2019 offer for Kessler is centered around starting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":104554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62,4721,24],"tags":[240,307,38,4513],"class_list":["post-104553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-trade-rumors","category-jazz","tag-anthony-davis","tag-dangelo-russell","tag-lebron-james","tag-walker-kessler"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}