The Utah Jazz have struggled this year. That’s not really a surprise. But there have been some positives to their season, including the emergence of Keyonte George and Lauri Markkanen’s scoring dominance. But they’ve also had some pretty bad luck. Namely, the injury to Walker Kessler.
To make matters worse, Kessler will be a free agent this summer, as the 2025-26 campaign is the final year of his rookie contract. That means, despite missing almost all of this season, Kessler and the Jazz will have to figure out a new contract over the summer. But there’s also a chance that other teams around the league try to pry Kessler from Utah.
And one of those teams could potentially be the Washington Wizards.
Wizards could try to steal Walker Kessler from Jazz
According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, the Wizards could look to make Kessler a significant offer in free agency:
“They (Jazz) are optimistic Walker Kessler will be back in Utah, and they have final say due to his restricted free agency…the word around the league is the Wizards are fairing to make him a significant offer.”
Washington made a huge change this season, trading CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Atlanta Hawks for Trae Young, who is set to be one of their franchise centerpieces moving forward.
The Wizards already have a solid infrastructure in place with Young, Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, and others, but adding a big man like Kessler could be a huge help.
Sarr has taken major strides this season, but using him as a power forward instead of center could be ideal for his development, especially if his three-point shot continues to progress.
Trying to steal Kessler away from the Jazz in free agency would give them a perfect defensive lineup around Young, which is crucial, as the Wizards will have to build a way to cover for him on that end.
But if you’re the Jazz, keeping Kessler should be a top priority this offseason. He was having a great year before he went down, and he should be a big part of the next era of Jazz basketball.
His defense and rebounding are crucial to the long-term success of Utah, as he should be a perfect piece alongside Ace Bailey, George, and the rest of their young core.
The Wizards, and perhaps some other teams around the league, will undoubtedly try to pry Kessler out of Utah in free agency. But he’ll be a restricted free agent, and the Jazz should definitely keep him around.