People have clowned the Los Angeles Lakers for going all in on Walker Kessler, but it still makes sense why they did it. He's been on their radar since 2024, and the former Utah Jazz center proved that he's not only a quality center, but he's ready to win now. At the same time, while he helps the Lakers' biggest issue - defense - he doesn't solve it by himself.
Kessler is an excellent rim protector who gets a high number of blocks, but even then, it doesn't do him enough justice for just how good he is in that particular aspect. Opponents are frightened when they see Kessler in the post.
So while trading Kessler may have been the right move for Utah, that's not to say they won't miss him. However, despite Kessler's impact, he's only one player. Even though he proved from the jump that he is an elite rim protector, that didn't really change much for the Jazz on the defensive end.
In his three healthy years with Utah, the Jazz's defensive rating was tied for seventh-worst in his rookie year (116.0), the worst in his sophomore year (119.0), and the worst in his third year (119.4). Now, over this time period, Utah steadily (and intentionally) got worse, but it further shows that despite Kessler's best efforts, Utah's defense was still quite bad.
At a closer look, Kessler helped the Jazz's defense, as their defensive rating was 112.7 with him on the floor his rookie year, 116.0 his sophomore year, and 118.3 his third year, meaning he routinely made them better despite the lack of support on that side of the floor.
All of this is not to say his defense is bad or overrated. It's more to point out that he is only one piece of the puzzle. That's why even if he's an indisputable improvement for the Lakers, he won't change the entire landscape by himself.
Kessler will run into same problem in LA that Rudy Gobert did in Utah
For some stupid reason, many thought Utah's decline on defense as time went on during the Gobert era was a reflection of him. Spoiler: it wasn't. Utah replaced their plus-defenders with more offensively savvy personnel who were quite lacking on the defensive side of the ball.
All due respect to Mike Conley Jr., Bojan Bogdanovic, and Jordan Clarkson, but they were not helping on that side of the ball. It didn't help that Donovan Mitchell's efforts waned over time. The point is, the Jazz's defense declined in spite of everything Gobert did.
Don't be surprised if Kessler, who is not the same caliber of player prime Gobert was, runs into the same problem. The Lakers have continued loading up this offseason, but not exactly with defensive specialists.
New additions like Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes, and old friend Collin Sexton will help their playoff hopes, but they don't exactly strike fear in any opponent's heart on defense. Maybe the Lakers can trade for someone who would help, but it's hard to figure out how they'd pull that off after all they gave up for Kessler.
Add those guys in with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and the Lakers are... fine? There will be some questions about their resistance on defense until they prove otherwise.
We wish Kessler all the best in Hollywood, but he's definitely got his work cut out for him going forward.
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