There's a sickness on the NBA internet. A sickness of concocting the worst trades possible, in which rebuilding teams essentially give away valuable young players to big-market contenders for seemingly no real reason. Jazz center Walker Kessler has been a mainstay in those mock trades for the past two years, with the Lakers leading the charge and plenty of other big-name teams following in their wake.
But those trades should, and likely will, remain pipe dreams for a pretty glaring reason: Walker Kessler is really good! Plus, he's under team control for the next four (at least) years as he'll hit restricted free agency next year and the Jazz will undoubtedly make quick work of extending him on a long-term deal. A 24 year-old, elite rim protector who is about to sign a contract extension is far more than the "trade chip" he's made out to be by people who don't actually watch the Jazz.
And it's that simple!
Jazz shouldn't be a rush to move on from Walker Kessler
I've always found it funny how rebuilding teams are quick to part with draft successes because they're afriad of getting the timing perfect. If a player is on an expiring contract and their trade value is at its peak, then sure, look toward the future. But with Kessler, there needn't be any rush to ship him off somewhere else just because the team isn't ready to compete in 2025.
Look at Myles Turner in Indiana; he played there for years before the team found postseason success... and when everything finally clicked, he was a vital piece of two consecutive playoff runs. If the Pacers had sent him elsewhere for scraps at any point during their rebuild, the rebuild wouldn't have even reached the level it ended up reaching!
Why can't Kessler be that for the Jazz? Let's say the Jazz have fully built by 2028-2029. That's not too crazy, in my opinion; three years from now, things will look a lot different (for the better, I believe.) If the Jazz sign Kessler to a four-year extension next offseason, he'd still be on that contract when the Jazz are finally getting ready to compete in the West. He'll be 27 years old! Even in the most conservative predictions of when this Jazz rebuild will peak, Kessler will be squarely in his prime. I know patience has gone out of style in the NBA... but the prospect of trading Kessler, especially right now, makes negative sense.
Not every rebuilding season must include full roster teardowns. The word "build" is part of "rebuild" for a reason, and keeping players like Walker Kessler is how teams keep building before finding the finished product.