It's hard to envision how Walker Kessler won't be on the Utah Jazz next season. The only way he wouldn't is if the Jazz sign-and-trade him, but the only way they would do that is if they're getting an upgrade for him. The Los Angeles Lakers have better players than Kessler to offer in a deal, but it's safe to say they're not offering Luka Doncic in a trade.
That's not to say the two sides couldn't agree to a deal, but BasketNews Edvina Kuzas' proposed trade sending Kessler to Hollywood, that, in all honesty, would quesiton if their front office was on something. He proposed the following deal between the two sides.
Lakers get: Kessler
Jazz get: Deandre Ayton, Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht, No. 25 pick in 2025 NBA Draft
In essence, Utah trade Kessler, one of the league's best rim protectors and rebounders in his mid-20s, for spare parts. Ayton had an uneven season with an infamously questionable motor, Vanderbilt is on a terrible deal, Knecht has not panned out in the slightest for LA, and the No. 25 is pretty expendable.
All of that is pennies on the dollar for Kessler, someone who, as long he's back at full strength, is a top-100 player in the NBA.
This is a deal that screams, "Here, just take him." Granted, that's how the Lakers got Luka Doncic, but despite how much has fallen into the Lakers' lap over the past few decades, the Jazz have little reason to do the same with Kessler.
The Jazz have little incentive to trade Kessler, let alone to a fellow playoff contender in the West that has the same aspirations as them. The only way they would is if the Lakers put someone actually valuable on the table. To be fair, they can.
Put Austin Reaves on the table, and you've got the Jazz's attention
This has been discussed before. Let the record show that I personally think it's a bad idea for both sides to discuss this. However, Reaves is the kind of player who would get the Jazz's attention if the Lakers were serious about Kessler, because, unlike the aforementioned Lakers in that deal, he brings something to the table.
Rumors have swirled that Utah has their eye on Reaves before and after the JJJ trade. It's highly unlikely, but Reaves is a pure scorer who has been one of the NBA's most impressive stories of rising through the ranks as a player.
In a perfect world, Utah would team him up with Kessler rather than swapping the two, but the Lakers wouldn't go for that for obvious reasons. More than that, it would be about as likely as this proposed Kessler swap...
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