[Woike] It starts with Kessler, a player Doncic wanted at center most of all. The Lakers believe he fits “perfectly” alongside Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, a team source told The Athletic. The biggest draw is Kessler’s rim protection — which charts as close to the best in the league.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7415227/2026/07/01/lakers-luka-doncic-post-lebron-james-offseason-moves/

Everything was at stake for the Los Angeles Lakers, but as free agency started Monday, the organization seemed stuck in neutral — if not moving backward in reverse.

But though the Lakers’ fanbase winced, the franchise pushed forward with its plan — one more grounded in reality than people outside the organization could’ve imagined … even if day one was a total dud.

“We weren’t surprised,” one team source told The Athletic, granted anonymity to freely discuss the Lakers’ offseason moves.
Even if it appeared otherwise, the Lakers had a strategy — albeit a tricky one — but a strategy nonetheless. Its results spewed from a transactional firehose Tuesday morning

In Kessler’s case, it took the Lakers offering their two available unprotected first-round picks and two swaps to push the Utah Jazz off matching Kessler’s offer sheet, something the latter swore up and down they were more than happy to do.

Still, there were optimistic people in and around the organization because these moves were carefully made with Luka Dončić in mind.

There was truly only one decision to make, and it was made for them early in the morning Feb. 2, 2025, when they traded for Dončić. The lessons the Lakers should have — and seemed to have — learned since then are simple: The only viable path to an NBA championship in this era is by allocating all resources around the best player.

It starts with Kessler, a player Dončić wanted at center most of all. The future first-rounders lost will certainly come back to sting the Lakers at some point. In addition to representing young, cost-controlled talent, those picks were also pathways out of unforeseen trouble — assets they can use to get off a bad contract or to upgrade a weakness. The Lakers sacrificed that flexibility for a player they believe fits “perfectly” alongside Dončić and Austin Reaves, a team source told The Athletic.

The biggest draw is Kessler’s rim protection — which charts as close to the best in the league. Finding a center whom the Lakers can funnel players toward was a critical piece of their puzzle, and they now have one of the best. Since being drafted 22nd in 2022, Kessler ranks seventh among all players with 474 blocks. In the last two seasons, only Kessler, Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Davis have averaged at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and multiple blocks. The Lakers, who finished 22nd among teams in blocks per game each of the last two seasons, haven’t ranked top 10 in rejections since the 2021-22 season (seventh), according to NBA.com

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