The Utah Jazz didn't trade Walker Kessler at the trade deadline. While a trade never seemed truly in the cards, that didn't stop the Lakers from inquiring about the third-year Jazzman. After LA got their hands on Luka Doncic, there was no way the Jazz were helping them... again.
But trading with the Lakers went beyond Doncic or Kessler himself. The Jazz own the Lakers top-four protected first-round pick in 2027. There was no way Utah was going to make the quality of that pick become worse by their own doing.
One could argue that such sentiment only concludes that the Jazz didn't want to trade Kessler to the Lakers specifically, but that doesn't mean he wasn't available, period. However, intel from Marc Stein would further show that the Jazz have absolutely no intention of trading Kessler.
"League sources say that the Knicks were right there with the Lakers in their determination before the trade deadline to try to convince Utah to engage in meaningful Walker Kessler trade talks. No dice, though. The Jazz made it clear they wanted no part of entertaining Kessler pitches in-season," Stein wrote.
The Knicks have some first-rounders (though they used most of their arsenal to acquire Mikal Bridges), and some of those are not their own, which can hold some appeal to rebuilding teams like the Jazz. However, Utah wasn't budging in this instance because simply put, Kessler has proven himself a keeper.
Don't be surprised if Kessler rumors don't pop up again for some time
Kessler has been phenomenal in his role with the Jazz this season, contributing to their somewhat enjoyable season despite all the losses. Even with his play, his name still appeared in trade rumors, though any rumors linking him appeared in the same fashion as the Knicks did in the blurb mentioned above. Teams like the Lakers and Knicks wanted him, but the Jazz told them no.
Even when Kessler was on the market during the offseason, the Jazz only considered trading him to capitalize on his value. In other words, they wouldn't sell him unless a team was willing to pay a premium price for him. Now, his value has risen even higher, and the Jazz don't even want to capitalize on it because he's shown their best option is to keep him on the team.
Because of that, rumors involving Kessler should and will likely die down for a while. The Jazz may be willing to trade some of the guys, but Kessler has shown that trading him would be a mistake.
That doesn't mean the Jazz won't ever trade Kessler. It just means that if they do, it will be long before they even think about it again.