Robert Horry labels the rim-protecting center the "key" to a Lakers championship, sparking fresh debate over whether Utah sacrificed a superstar for a haul of future picks.
The Utah Jazz got quite the haul when they finally decided to move Walker Kessler this summer.
Robert Horry is already providing a reminder of what they gave up to get it.
Kessler has yet to play his first game for the Los Angeles Lakers, but the seven-time NBA champion believes the former Jazz center could determine just how far his old team goes this season.
Not Luka Doncic. Not Austin Reaves.
Kessler.
"I think when you watch what Walker Kessler brings to the game, he's so incredibly skilled," Horry said on ESPN's Mason & Ireland Show. "We haven't had a big since AD that can block shots like that, pop out for threes."
Horry eventually took it even further.
"He is the key," Horry said. "Not Luka, not AR, he is."
That is quite the endorsement for a player Utah decided to move only two months ago.
The Jazz sent Kessler to Los Angeles this summer in a sign-and-trade that brought back unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 along with first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030. Kessler agreed to a four-year, $130 million contract with Los Angeles.
Two unprotected first-rounders and two swaps gave Utah a substantial future return for Kessler. Those assets are also far enough into the future for plenty to change in Los Angeles before they convey.
Still … Horry's assessment highlights the other side of that gamble.
Kessler was already one of the NBA's premier rim protectors in Utah, averaging at least 2.3 blocks in each of his first three seasons. His fourth was over almost as soon as it began.
The 25-year-old averaged 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.8 blocks while shooting 70.3% from the field across five games last season before undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
He also made six of his eight 3-point attempts during that tiny sample after making only 11 across his first three NBA seasons.
Perhaps Horry's "pop out for threes" assessment ends up looking prophetic. Five games certainly were not enough to determine whether Kessler had suddenly become a legitimate floor-spacing center.
His rim protection requires far less projection.
That skill set makes the price Los Angeles paid for him easier to understand.
There is even a fun bit of history behind the messenger here.
Horry and Danny Ainge famously had their own moment nearly three decades ago in Phoenix. Horry threw a towel in Ainge's face during a 1997 game, was suspended and was traded to the Lakers days later.
Horry went on to win three championships in Los Angeles.
Nearly 30 years later, he finds himself rooting for another player connected to Ainge — although Horry joked that Kessler's Auburn background might make that difficult enough on its own.
Utah's side of the Kessler trade ultimately will not be judged this season. The first outright first-round pick the Jazz received will not convey until 2031, and the second sits all the way out in 2033.
That requires patience.
Watching Kessler potentially become the missing piece next to Doncic and Reaves might require a little more.
If Horry is right about just how important Kessler will be in Los Angeles, Jazz fans are going to spend plenty of time checking on those future Lakers picks.
