Walker Kessler leaving the Utah Jazz for the Los Angeles Lakers definitely took many by surprise, but after his debut for the Lakers, it's pretty clear Kessler knew what he was getting himself into when he paired himself with Luka Doncic. Honestly, good for him. There shouldn't be much bad blood because he and the Jazz got what they wanted from the trade.
However, while Kessler's fit with the Lakers is certainly worth keeping an eye on, it also should harken back to how he approached his RFA over the summer. It's not even just that Kessler wanted to go to the Lakers, but he also convinced the Jazz he would have taken the qualifying offer if they didn't do the trade.
It's easy to look at that and think he simply didn't want to be in Utah, but that may not have necessarily told the whole story. Kessler simply wanted to take control of his own destiny, and likely put the two and two together that if he re-signed with the Jazz, that wasn't going to be an option.
The NBA's tax aprons are so harsh that teams have had to trade players they didn't want to trade and/or waive players they didn't want to waive all to avoid the ramifications of being above the NBA's second tax apron for three years, let alone the ramifications of being above it period.
It was pretty clear the Jazz wanted to keep Kessler and RFA typically gives teams the leverage to. However, Kessler may have known that eventually he would have been squeezed out by Utah. They had already traded for Jaren Jackson Jr. and they had an extension lined up for Keyonte George, so eventually, crossing those aprons was coming up.
Kessler decided he'd rather take the risk by signing the QO and control his NBA future than get paid and leave it in Utah's hands. It may not have been him saying "I want out" as much as it was "I'm just playing the game the way it is now."
We may see more RFAs do the same thing
Kessler in some ways was lucky that he was both appealing enough to the Lakers and that they were willing to give that much up for him to get precisely what he wanted in the end. Even so, more RFAs may use the qualifying offer as an effective bargaining chip to play for the team that they want if their team doesn't pay up.
For years on end, we have seen restricted free agents go into staring contests with their teams because they disagree on what their price should be. In fact, what was most shocking about the Kessler situation is that it wasn't like that when many thought it would be.
His approach in trying to force his way to the team he wants to play for one way or the other, even if it potentially handicapped him offensively, may be the template future restricted free agents use. They've always had the QO option, but the prospect of being dumped to a team they don't want to play for like Kessler may have been had he stayed in Utah in due time could be used as the leverage they didn't previously have until now.
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