The Los Angeles Lakers shocked the NBA world on Wednesday as the Buss family agreed to sell majority ownership of the franchise to Mark Walter for $10 billion, marking the largest ever sale of a professional sports franchise. The deal will put even more pressure on general manager and president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka as he looks to surround Luka Dončić and LeBron James with a championship level roster.
The Lakers will be in the market for a center after Jaxson Hayes and Alex Len combined to play just 35 total minutes in their five postseason games. Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune appeared on the “Locked on Jazz” podcast, where he revealed that Los Angeles has made the Utah Jazz an offer for Walker Kessler.
“There’s been an offer presented for Walker Kessler,” The Salt Lake Tribune’s Andy Larsen stated Wednesday. “Certainly from the Lakers. (They) have shown significant interest all the way back to the trade deadline, certainly continuing now. And him being their (center) of the (future), giving up multiple picks to get there — that is on the table right now. I don’t know if the Jazz take it. Certainly they haven’t so far.”
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The Lakers interest in Kessler is no surprise as they attempted to acquire him at the trade deadline before being rebuffed. The third-year center became a full-time starter for the first time in his NBA career.
He appeared in 58 games and set career-highs across the board. Kessler averaged 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.6 steals and 2.4 blocks in 30.0 minutes per game while shooting 66.3% from the field. While he is not the lob threat that Dončić thrives alongside, he would provide Los Angeles with a much needed upgrade to their interior defense and rebounding.
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