What doesn't get brought up enough about how the Walker Kessler situation shaped up with the Utah Jazz is how everything was completely subverted. Beforehand, we thought it was going to be a staring contest between the two, but instead, Kessler got traded, got his money, and the Jazz got insanely valuable draft capital for their troubles.
Wha only recenly came to light is the fact that part of why Utah made the deal was because Kessler planned to take the qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next summer, per Marc Stein.
"There is no denying that the s-t-e-e-p trade price that the Lakers were willing to pay to trade for Kessler influenced Utah more than anything, but league sources say that Kessler's camp successfully convinced Jazz officials that he was absolutely determined to go the qualifying offer route this summer had he stayed in Utah and then proceed to (un)restricted free agency next summer."
Remember that Danny Ainge has a reputation for being quite the con man, and has ripped off plenty of teams over the years since working in NBA front offices. If Kessler and his camp convinced him and the Jazz's FO what he was going to do, you better believe Ainge both believed him and believed this situation was going way south and way fast for Utah.
That's why Utah did a fantastic job handling Kessler
Resricted free agency is one of the trickiest situations for NBA players. Teams aren't exacly enthused to sign a player whose teams can simply match the deal. That's why, even if this had all the makings of a situation that was going to get ugly, it was hard to see how the Jazz would lose.
Well, they didn't, even if Kessler didn't come back. Utah got about as much as they could from a Lakers team definitely desperate enough to spend as much as possible to get Kessler. Better yet, they avoided the uncertainty of Kessler potentially bolting. Avoiding that fate entirely while getting picks is masterful work!
Let's clarify something else: none of Stein's intel specifically stated that Kessler planned to leave the team. However, him playing that card, followed by the Jazz trading him would signal that Utah feared he would leave if he indeed signed the qualifying offer.
Luckily, when they had the chance to make the most out of a situation in which they could have lost Kessler for absolutely nothing next summer, they traded him when his value was at its highest. As an added bonus, it sounds like the Jazz's front office believes in was in their best interest to get rid of him, and while we don't know what the plan is, it's easy to see how one could formulate immediately.
The bottom line is that in a situation that could have been gloomy for all sides involved between Kessler and Utah, everybody won!
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