Walker Kessler is up for an extension with the Utah Jazz. After the bounceback year he had, it seems like a given that the Jazz would extend him. However, there hasn't been a peep about a potential extension this offseason, and that might just be by design because the smartest strategy for Utah will be to wait until next summer to lock him up.
On the surface, it may not sound like the smartest idea to play hardball with Kessler, but Utah might not be doing that. Instead, they may just simply wait until next year to give Kessler the contract he wants and deserves. The Athletic's John Hollinger explained why that is the best strategy for them when discussing potential extensions from the NBA's 2022 NBA Draft Class.
"Even if the Jazz believe in Kessler as their long-term center, there’s a case for waiting. Kessler has an artificially low $14.6 million cap hold next summer, and the Jazz have enough cap room to keep his hold on the books and still go big-game hunting in free agency. They then could exceed the cap with a market-rate contract for Kessler that might start at double his cap hold, especially because it’s likely to be front-loaded. That option is only available if they don’t extend him this summer," Hollinger wrote.
This has been brought up before, but it bears repeating because Kessler's lack of extension may make some come to the wrong conclusion that Utah is willing to play the same game teams are playing with the current most high-profile restricted free agents.
Even if that was their strategy, the last time the Kessler situation was checked on, his long-term place in Utah wasn't exactly left up for interpretation.
The Jazz want Kessler for the long haul until further notice
There may have been doubts about Kessler's long-term place with the team after his shaky second year, but that wasn't the case in Year 3. While there's no telling if there's another gear for Kessler to reach, a Jazz executive made it clear to Spotrac's Keith Smith that the plan is to keep him long term.
“We’d love to get Walker signed. We have a whole lot of flexibility, because Lauri (Markkanen) is the only veteran we have on a long-term deal. That will come into play with Walker, too, because he’ll be the next guy on a long-term deal. That’s something we have to be mindful of, as we plan and build our roster out in the immediate and for the future,” the executive told Smith.
The sentiment here is so strong that it's hard to believe the Jazz would do a 180. In fact, the most likely situation going on right now is both the Jazz and Kessler have already agreed to an extension, but they're just waiting until next offseason to make it official.
It's the smartest strategy because Utah maintains cap flexibility and they don't upset Kessler in the process. Nothing could go wrong.