Lakers trade for center Walker Kessler from Utah, make their big swing with rush of signings

The Lakers kept pointing to the summer of 2026 as when they would make their big move. It’s when they would have the cap space to radically reshape the roster around Luka Doncic and better fit his style of play.

They have done exactly that — starting with trading for the center they desperately needed.

The Utah Jazz are trading 24-year-old center Walker Kessler to the Lakers for two unprotected first-round picks (2031, 2033) and two first-round pick swaps (2028 and 2030), a story first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN. The Lakers are signing Kessler, a restricted free agent, to a four-year, $130 million contract (averaging $32.5 million per season).

This is a huge win for the Lakers. Luka Doncic has said getting a center who can set picks and roll hard to the rim was key to his success, and Kessler may be the best one he has ever played with. Kessler has been at the top of the Lakers’ wish list for a while, but he was a restricted free agent, and the expectation in league circles was that Utah would pay up to keep him.

However, the price the Lakers agreed to pay — essentially four first-round picks — was just too good for Utah to pass up. Utah still has Jaren Jackson Jr., who can play center, which slides Lauri Markkanen over to the four, with Keyonte George, No. 2 pick Darryn Peterson and Ace Bailey likely rounding out the starting five. That’s still a very good team, and the Jazz now have picks they can use or trade to add around that core. Danny and Austin Ainge — the Utah brain trust — did very well in this deal, setting the Jazz up for the future.

The Lakers’ gamble here is health — Kessler played in just five games last season due to shoulder surgery and just 58 games the season before that. When healthy, he has shown his potential on both ends, and last season averaged 14.4 points and 10.8 rebounds per game when he did play. For his career, he averaged 2.4 blocked shots per game and is one of the few centers in the league equally capable of blocking shots with either hand.

Utah wanted to keep Kessler and reportedly offered four years, $140 million ($28 million a year on average). Kessler and his agent went looking for a larger deal and secured it with the Lakers (their offer is $32.5 million per season on average).

Kessler was the big splash, but it wasn’t the only move the Lakers made. Soon after that trade was reported, a series of other Lakers deals were announced:

• Guard Quentin Grimes is leaving Philadelphia to come to the Lakers on a four-year, $60 million deal.

• Floor spacing big man Sandro Mamukelashvili agreed to come to Los Angeles on a four-year, $52 million deal. He will serve as a backup big but provides the shooting the Lakers need to space the floor around Doncic and Austin Reaves.

• Point guard Collin Sexton to join the Lakers on a two-year, $19 million deal with a player option on the second year.

• All of that on top of previously having re-signed Austin Reaves to a four-year, $184.8 million deal that locks him in as the secondary guard and shot creator next to Doncic.

The Lakers have gone all-in. The only draft capital they have left to trade is a 2032 pick swap and a 2033 second-rounder. That’s it. This is their core.

But like another professional sports team in Los Angeles, the Lakers essentially said “f*** those picks” and leaned into win-now players. It worked out when the Los Angeles Rams did it, winning a championship, and the Lakers are hoping for that same level of success.