Who would the Utah Jazz protect during an NBA expansion draft?

#2 – Walker Kessler

After a promising rookie year, the Jazz would be crazy to let Walker Kessler go anywhere, especially to an expansion team. He would undoubtedly become a double-double monster and help that team to respectability very quickly.

Seeing that the Jazz picked up his third-year option this week, Kessler is going to be in Utah for a while yet. Any overtures by other teams looking to make a deal for Kessler are likely to be rebuffed instantly.

The expectations are high for him this year, and it’s too soon to give up on him for anyone but an established starting center at this point.

#1 – Lauri Markkanen

As the Jazz’s first All-Star in the new era, Lauri is #1 on this list of who the team would protect in the event of expansion, and he’s likely untouchable in trade talks as well.

Any thought of losing Lauri would likely be in a free agency gambit, where another team would have to throw a max contract offer his way, but even then the Jazz can pay him more than any other team and add the extra year as well – so it’s not happening unless Lauri wants to leave Utah. And so far, he seems to be pretty happy here and content to be the star.

Now that you’ve seen the list, would you handle it differently? Who would you keep and who would you leave open to the expansion draft? The Jazz will likely face this scenario within a few years, as soon as the NBA decides to proceed and expand, so it’s on the horizon and will become a reality.