It's been a while since the notion of a Walker Kessler trade has come up. To be perfectly honest, that was only a thing because of how often the Los Angeles Lakers got brought up as a Kessler destination. Even if he makes sense there, the Jazz wouldn't willingly send him to LA. However, one Kessler suitor that has some appeal to the Jazz as a trade partner is the Indiana Pacers.
First, let's give some background context. In recent weeks, the Pacers have emerged as a team with legitimate interest in Kessler, twice in fact. Okay, well, he's a restricted free agent, so there's no possible way the Pacers could pry him from the Jazz, right? Well, yeah, but something has also come up.
Almost a month ago, it was revealed that the Jazz and Kessler disagree on what his price tag should be this coming summer (which was re-confirmed in that second Pacers-Jazz report). Perhaps the most feasible way for the Pacers to get their hands on him is to acquire him before he enters restricted free agency.
But of course, the Jazz will not cough up Kessler for nothing. Needless to say, he's a different breed from the likes of Collin Sexton and John Collins.
How the Jazz & Pacers could work out a trade
While matching salary would obviously be at factor, this would be what the two sides could swap with one another that people should pay attention to.
Pacers get: Kessler
Jazz get: 2026 top-3 protected first-round pick, unprotected 2028 first-round pick
Despite the Pacers having multiple trade exceptions, they are hard-capped at the first tax apron, meaning they can't use them. However, matching salary for Kessler shouldn't be hard because he makes a tad less than $5 million.
Let's confront the elephant in the room. The Pacers are terrible to the point that it's not even debatable who is currently better between them and the Jazz. The Pacers are very clearly worse, with that being because they won't have Tyrese Haliburton for the entire season and losing Myles Turner to Milwaukee.
So, a trade like this would be a massive risk because Utah would bet on Indiana being bad, but not quite bad enough to get a top-three pick. They could get a high lottery pick for their troubles for Kessler while also banking on that Haliburton won't be back to normal by 2028 because Achilles tears are still delicate injuries.
Doing so could also be in ace in the hole in case the Jazz indeed lose their pick to the Thunder in 2026. A trade like this allows them to safely try to win more games and still get a high lottery pick anyway. Of course, this would all depend on if the team believes that the best course of action is to part ways with the young center.
Look, if the Jazz believe Kessler is the center of the future and have every intention of giving him a raise this summer, then scenarios aren't even worth discussing. However, there's been way too much smoke for this not to potentially be on the table not too long from now.
The Pacers' interest in Kessler seems as legitimate as the Jazz's uncertainty about him long-term. If Indiana is serious about getting him, Utah could provide them with the chance to get him and pay him long-term, but that front office certainly wouldn't make it easy.
In all honesty, this feels like a trade that both fanbases of these teams would say absolutely no to, and while maybe the two sides wouldn't agree to this exact trade, there is a scenario where they would one out, no?