It's official: Walker Kessler is no longer affiliated with the Utah Jazz. They have officially signed-and-traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers for two unprotected first-round picks and two future pick swaps. What caught everyone's eye (besides the haul the Jazz got) was that the deal took longer to become official, fueling speculation that it would expand.
Officially official. pic.twitter.com/w6FN7Je6c5
— Chandler Holt (@CHoltSports) July 9, 2026
But it didn't. In so doing, the Jazz didn't grant the Lakers' wish: accepting Jazz alum Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht on top of the picks.
Those two have been expendable for quite some time. The Lakers have never quite been able to salvage their relationship with Knecht since their deal sending him to Charlotte fell through. Vanderbilt is a quality defender who has pretty much always been a negative on offense.
As a result, both have been on the market for quite some time. Lakers Insider Jovan Buha confirmed they were on the market five days ago, saying, "Honestly, they prefer to dump Vando and Dalton, which would get you even more."
It's not even just that they don't help the Lakers much, but getting them off their payroll could open up the cap room to sign another impact player. The Jazz already did the Lakers a favor by giving them a quality center (which LA had to pay a high price for), but taking back two players they don't even want would have been overkill.
Especially to a team that has the same hopes that Utah does. There was no telling if the Lakers wanted to send those two to Utah in the Kessler deal, but thankfully, the Jazz didn't want to take on their problems.
Taking on those two could have hurt the value of those draft assets
If Utah had agreed to take Vanderbilt and Knecht in the Kessler deal, it would have opened up the cap room for the Lakers to add an impact player. Rumor has it their next target is Jonathan Kuminga. They may very well get him in the end, but Utah didn't want to help them with that.
The Lakers may very well find a home for those two, but the Jazz knew that getting them would be counterproductive, both because it would have further helped a competitor and because there's no telling whether either of them would have fit in the rotation or even been tradable. If the Lakers have had trouble getting out from under them, so would the Jazz.
So now the Jazz get to look towards the future with no Kessler but with with more draft assets to dangle. They can take pride in that especially knowing no albatrosses came with those assets.
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