Jazz Get A+, Lakers C- in Kessler Trade Grades
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- Walker Kessler moves from Utah to Los Angeles — the Lakers send two unprotected first-round picks (2031, 2033) and two first-round swaps (2028, 2030) and pay the 24-year-old center $32.5 million per year with a player option and trade kicker
- Utah Jazz earn an A+ — the first A+ grade of any deal this offseason — with Danny Ainge landing more draft capital than the Clippers got for Kawhi Leonard or the Cavaliers received in the LeBron James 'Decision' sign-and-trade
- Los Angeles Lakers receive a C- for paying what the analysis calls an 'outrageous price' for a non-All-Star, likening the cost to the Mikal Bridges and Desmond Bane trades rather than the Anthony Davis blockbuster
- Kessler's fit with Luka Doncic anchors the rationale: he ranks second among active players with an 8.3% career block rate, led the NBA in offensive rebounds (4.6 per game) in 2024-25, and is shooting 6-for-8 from three in five games this season
- July 1 Celtics-Sixers swap: Boston is graded D+ for sending Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia for Paul George and picks, while the Sixers receive an A-, with Brown offering perimeter defense and secondary playmaking next to Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid
- GM Rob Pelinka used what the analysis calls the Lakers' final offseason to deploy meaningful cap space before Doncic and Austin Reaves are on the books for more than half the cap, sacrificing 'nearly all' future draft flexibility in the process
Why it matters: Utah lands the offseason's only A+ trade grade while Pelinka trades premium draft capital for an unproven center — paying Kessler $32.5M annually with a player option and trade kicker despite just five games played last season (torn labrum) and limited offensive range, betting that the Doncic-Kessler pick-and-roll justifies the steep cost.
