[Lakers] Rob Pelinka On Walker Kessler: “At just 24 years old, Kessler has established himself as one of the elite two-way centers in the game. When the opportunity presented itself to pair a rim-protecting, lob-catching big with our two premier pick-and-roll guards, Luka and Austin, we seized it.”
Source: https://www.nba.com/lakers/news/lakers-acquire-center-walker-kessler
The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired center Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz in exchange for two future first round picks and two future first round pick swaps.
“At the core of every great Lakers team is a dominant big man,” said Los Angeles Lakers President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka. “At just 24 years old, Walker Kessler has established himself as one of the elite two-way centers in the game. When the opportunity presented itself to pair a rim-protecting, lob-catching big with our two premier pick-and-roll guards, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, we seized it. Walker will embody the core pillars we value in our players: high character, high basketball IQ and elite competitiveness as we enter the next era of Lakers basketball. It’s an incredibly proud moment to add someone with Walker’s unique skill set and makeup to our program.”
Kessler (7’2”, 245), who missed the majority of the 2025-26 season, appeared in 58 games (all starts) for the Jazz during the 2024-25 campaign, averaged 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.4 blocks in 30.0 minutes. That season, he led the NBA with 4.6 offensive rebounds per game, ranked second in blocks and finished fifth in rebounding.
In 201 career regular season games (125 starts) across four NBA seasons in Utah (2022-26), Kessler has averaged 9.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 2.4 blocks in 25.3 minutes. He leaves Utah as the franchise’s all-time leader in career field goal percentage (.681). Kessler averaged at least 2.0 blocks per game in each of his first three NBA seasons, becoming the first player to accomplish the feat since San Antonio’s Tim Duncan from 1997-2000. Since making his NBA debut in 2022-23, only Victor Wembanyama has averaged more blocks per game than Kessler.
Following the 2022-23 season, the Georgia native earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors and finished third in rookie of the year voting after averaging 9.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 23.0 minutes across 74 games (40 starts). Kessler led all rookies in blocks per game and field goal percentage (.720) while ranking second among first-year players in rebounds. He became just the eighth rookie in NBA history to record at least four games with seven or more blocks in a single season and the first to do so since Duncan in 1997-98.
Kessler reached 1,000 career rebounds in just 126 games, the fastest by a Jazz player since Hall of Famer Karl Malone (102 games). He also earned back-to-back selections to the NBA Rising Stars game at NBA All-Star Weekend in 2023 and 2024.
Originally selected 22nd overall by Memphis in the 2022 NBA Draft, Kessler’s draft rights were later acquired by Utah. He played one collegiate season at North Carolina (2020-21) before transferring to Auburn (2021-22), where he was named the 2022 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
Kessler will wear No. 14 for the Purple and Gold.