Trading Walker Kessler was always going to pose a risk. Going from him to Jusuf Nurkic was a downgrade, but the Utah Jazz evidently believed it wouldn't be significant enough to harm them all too much. They may be right, but now Nurkic is out.
Nurkic isn't the player he used to be, but he proved last season that he was an excellent fit in Utah's sytem. So much so that his season ended prematurely. He and Kessler would have given Utah plenty of proven depth in their frontcourt, which could have come in handy, even if it was likely Kessler was jumping ship the following offseason.
All of this points to the one risk we haven't discussed since Utah traded Kessler to LA that only rings true after Nurkic's injury: it hurt their big man depth.
Yes, they have Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., which more or less suggests that losing Nurkic only for a little while won't be that big of a deal, but even so, neither of those two fit the traditional center like Kessler or Nurkic do. And now, outside of them, the closest to tradtional centers they have on the active roster is Jaxson Hayes and Mo Bamba.
They also have Kyle Filipowski, who could be more important than people realize, but like Markkanen and JJJ, he's not a traditional big man.
It might raise their urgency to add permament Kessler replacement
Look, Utah brought Nurkic back likely knowing he only has so much time left. By extension, that means they also have so much time before they have to turn to someone else. Nurkic's injury actually gives them the opportunity to see who else can fill in while he''s gone as they decide whether to trust who they have now or go after someone who could fill the void left by Kessler.
Is all of this to say that trading Kessler was a mistake? Absolutely not. Between knowing that he was trying to force his way out of Utah and that keeping him was going to complicate their cap situation, trading him made a lot of sense. Especially with that they got back for him.
It's just that when these situations happen, it exposes the hidden risks when teams trade valuable players like Kessler. Risks that don't get much attention until unforeseen circumstances come to fruition like Nurkic getting hurt just before the season starts.
It makes the notion of keeping Kessler when they had the chance easier to agree with, and the fact that they traded him harder to swallow. All we can say is, here's to hoping the frontcourt can stay healthy when it really counts.
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