By shipping a high-priced, injury-prone center to Los Angeles for a haul of unprotected picks, Danny Ainge offloaded massive financial risk while securing essential assets for Utah’s rebuild.
The Utah Jazz faced a difficult decision when Walker Kessler agreed to a four-year, $130 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Match the offer sheet and commit significant money to a promising but recently injury-plagued center ... or lose one of the franchise’s most valuable young players.
CEO Danny Ainge found a third option.
Utah sent Kessler to Los Angeles in a sign-and-trade that returned two unprotected first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps. And the early debate surrounding Kessler’s new contract suggests Ainge positioned the Jazz to benefit regardless of what happens next.
Yahoo Sports’ senior writer Ben Rohrbach recently ranked Kessler’s deal as the second-worst contract handed out during NBA free agency, behind only Trae Young’s four-year, $212.8 million agreement with the Washington Wizards.
Rohrbach’s criticism wasn’t solely based on Kessler’s salary.
The Lakers also surrendered four future assets before committing an average of $32.5 million annually to a center who appeared in just five games last season following surgery to repair a torn left labrum.
“But it is all just hope,” Rohrbach wrote. “We have not seen it from Kessler.”
That assessment stands in stark contrast to ESPN insider Brian Windhorst’s recent reporting.
Windhorst revealed that several teams had pursued Kessler and may have been willing to offer Utah a similarly lucrative package had his free-agent market been more open. He also highlighted the rising cost of centers across the league, suggesting Los Angeles’ investment reflected Kessler’s value rather than an isolated overpay.
Both arguments can’t be entirely correct ... but either one could benefit the Jazz.
If Kessler remains healthy and develops into an elite defensive anchor alongside Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, Utah received four valuable assets for a player Los Angeles viewed as an essential piece of its championship pursuit in the post-LeBron James era.
If Rohrbach’s concerns prove justified, the Jazz avoided attaching $130 million to a limited and injury-prone center while gaining control of Lakers draft capital that could become increasingly valuable.
That’s what makes Ainge’s handling of Kessler so impressive.
Utah didn’t have to determine whether the center market had become inflated or whether Kessler would eventually justify his contract. The Jazz allowed Los Angeles to assume that risk while securing a return built to help their own reconstruction.
Whether Kessler proves his critics wrong or becomes one of the summer’s most expensive mistakes, Utah already extracted its value.
