Walker Kessler didn’t exactly have a relaxing summer. The restricted free agency process, as he put it, “isn’t the most fun thing ever.” But the 7-footer ended up exactly where he thinks he was supposed to be all along.
The Lakers landed Kessler in a sign-and-trade with the Utah Jazz, sending draft compensation back to Utah. It was a move that addressed Los Angeles’s biggest priority going into the offseason: finding a center who could catch lobs from Luka Doncic and protect the rim on the other end.
Kessler spoke with ESPN’s Ben Golliver about the whole experience. He didn’t sugarcoat it. Being a restricted free agent means your own team can match any offer sheet you sign, which basically puts your career on hold while everybody else’s business gets done first. It’s awkward. It’s stressful. And in Kessler’s case, it dragged on until the Lakers stepped in.
But the center seems genuinely relieved about how it played out. Four years in Utah, and now he’s in Los Angeles. He told Golliver that ending up with the Lakers after that whole ordeal felt like “how it’s supposed to be.”
Fair to say the Lakers agree.
What the Lakers are getting
Kessler only played five games last season. Shoulder surgery wiped out basically the entire 2025-26 campaign. But in those five games, he put up 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, three assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.4 steals. That’s a small sample size but it matches the production he showed the year before — 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 58 games.
The Lakers finished 53-29 last season, fourth in the West. They beat the Rockets in six games, then got swept by the Thunder. That ended what turned out to be LeBron James’s final season in Los Angeles. He’s gone. So are Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, and Luke Kennard.
In their place? Kessler, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashveli, Quentin Grimes, Kevon Looney, and Jaden Hardy. It’s a very different-looking roster. One built around Doncic and Anthony Davis (assuming he sticks around) with more shooting and more size.
Kessler’s job is pretty clear. Roll to the rim. Block shots. Don’t let smaller guards switch onto him in space and cook. If he stays healthy, he’s a legitimate Defensive Player of the Year candidate someday. If he doesn’t? Well, the Lakers have Looney as insurance.
But the way Kessler sees it, the hard part is over. The waiting, the uncertainty, the rehab. He’s in L.A. now. The rest is basketball.
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