It is very well known that the Los Angeles Lakers are in the market for a center this offseason. In fact, the team has been looking for a big man even before they traded for Luka Doncic in February and one name that has come up numerous times is Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler.
Kessler is one of the best young bigs in the NBA today who led the league in offensive rebounds per game, ranked fifth in total rebounds per game, and second in blocks. The Lakers have been linked to him for quite some time and it was even briefly reported that they had recently made an offer to Utah for the center.
However, it now seems as that isn’t the case as, according to Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune, trade talks have not reached the serious stages yet:
Welp, got aggregated today.
I’ll say this as a point of clarification: while all of the possibilities I mentioned (Sexton to Dallas, LAL interest in Kessler, PHI interest in a pick 3/5 swap) have been discussed, they haven’t gotten into the serious stages to my knowledge.
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) June 18, 2025
There is some interest in Kessler not just from the Lakers, but around the league and the Jazz are expected to be open to some trades this offseason with the big man potentially being made available. The question is what would the Jazz want in return for him as their asking price for the promising young center has previously been pretty high.
It makes sense as Kessler averaged 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in his third NBA season and isn’t even 24 years old yet. He could be the Lakers’ long-term answer in the middle, so the Jazz would want a serious return if they were to give him up in a trade. But just how far the Lakers are willing to go is unclear. As this offseason goes forward, the Lakers will undoubtedly consider many different options at center and it will be interesting to see if talks with the Jazz on Kessler ratchet up again.
Lakers have had talks with Jazz on forward John Collins
Walker Kessler isn’t the only player the Lakers have spoken with the Jazz about as the team has also had discussions centered around John Collins. The power forward is coming off an excellent season in Utah, but with the Lakers already crowded at that position, trading for him might not make too much sense.
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