The Utah Jazz's biggest priority this offseason is continuing to build on their youth movement. With the NBA Draft in less than 10 days, the Jazz will look to draft the best player who could address their most pressing needs. Coming in second is Walker Kessler's potential contract extension, and Steven Adams' recent extension may be a factor in negotiations.
Following a standout playoff performance in his return following a year-long layoff, Adams got a nice extension with the Rockets, earning a three-year contract worth $39 million. That's pretty impressive, and this could impact how the Jazz approach Kessler's upcoming extension.
Let's just clear the air right now. Kessler should and will have a higher price tag to extend with the Jazz than Adams did with the Rockets. He's younger, his best days are ahead of him, the Jazz don't have much money tied up long-term outside of Lauri Markkanen, and he has a higher ceiling.
That's not the question. The question is, how much will the Jazz factor what Adams just got with the Rockets into what they want to give Kessler?
Don't be surprised if Adams' extension could be used as a negotiating tactic to drive down Kessler's price tag. Kessler is a better athlete than Adams, while Adams has a bigger body and is a playoff-proven big man. However, there is some skill overlap between those two.
Like any other team, it wouldn't be surprising if the Jazz use what the Rockets paid Adams to drive down the price for Kessler's extension. While they would be fools to think Kessler would take that same deal as Adams, the Jazz would be smart to start with that price and then negotiate from there.
This is how it works in the NBA. Even if players like Kessler have played well enough that interested suitors would have to pay through the teeth to get them, teams typically start extension talks lowballing as much as they can. There are only a few exceptions in which teams do not even bother starting with that because of the caliber of player they are talking to.
LeBron James has never been lowballed and for good reason. That's the kind of player that teams don't mess with. Kessler is not on that level, though he is at a high enough level that it's in the Jazz's best interest to want to keep him, but not high enough that they won't try to extend him on a discount first.
Because of Adams just signed, that's likely where the Jazz will start with Kessler in extension talks. Where the two sides will be when they finish negotiations is another story.
The other factor that could go into Kessler's extension talks
Kessler is coming off a fantastic season, but it doesn't erase the disappointing season he had the year prior. Utah will likely also use his inconsistency against him. It doesn't detract from the fact that Kessler is trending upward again, but the Jazz would be justified in not trusting if he can keep this up on a year-to-year basis.
Any rebuilding team like Utah wants to see consistency from its young players. It's weird to say that about Kessler because he has shown the most out of their youth movement, and by a fair margin, too. So much so that the Jazz would get some heat if they considered getting rid of him. However, his tenure in Utah hasn't been perfect in the last three years.
If the Jazz give Kessler less than what folks think they will, that'll show that yup, they held this over him in talks. if they give him about around the amount many thoght they would or even more, that'll show that they have complete faith that Kessler is a building block and that his obstacles are behind him.