The Utah Jazz ultimately did what the Dallas Mavericks could not — get a massive pick haul from the Los Angeles Lakers in a trade.
The Jazz agreed on Wednesday to send center Walker Kessler to the Lakers for unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 and rights to pick swaps in 2028 and 2030, the Deseret News confirmed. Kessler will be signing a four-year, $130 million deal.
ESPN was first to report the news.
Famously, the Mavericks only received a single first-round pick when they traded Luka Dončić to the Lakers last year for Anthony Davis, who is now on the Washington Wizards roster.
While the Jazz aren’t getting back players in the sign-and-trade deal that sends Kessler to L.A., the trade forced the Lakers to give up nearly all of their remaining draft capital over the next seven years. The Lakers only have a 2032 pick swap and a 2033 second-round pick remaining as future assets.
The Jazz will also create a trade exception worth half of Kessler’s first-year salary with the Lakers.
This transaction ends a saga that began a year ago, when the Jazz decided against extending Kessler’s contract during the 2025 offseason — a decision that led to Kessler publicly expressing his frustration.
The Jazz wanted to maintain cap flexibility and address Kessler’s future as a restricted free agent in 2026 rather than sign him to an extended deal in 2025.
Kessler played in just five games during the 2025-26 campaign before being sidelined by season-ending shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum that Kessler had been playing with for years.
On Tuesday, when free agent negotiations opened for the NBA, Kessler’s agents began meeting with teams. But as a restricted free agent, the Jazz would have been able to match any offer that Kessler received from another team and they were expected to do so.
The Lakers, desperate for a defensive center who could be a lob threat paired with Dončić, were willing to part with assets and give Kessler a massive payday in order to address some roster deficiencies.
The Jazz will now be on the hunt to improve depth at the center position with Jusuf Nurkić now the only center that will be under contract after agreeing to a two-year, $22 million deal with the Jazz earlier this week.
