Report: Lakers have been interested in Jazz center Walker Kessler

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Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler has been one of the NBA’s elite rim protectors for as long as he’s been in the league. He averaged  2.3 blocked shots in his rookie season, the 2022-23 season, and is averaging 2.4 rejections per game for his career.

But on top of his penchant for sending away shots, Kessler is a voracious rebounder as well. So far across 140 total regular-season games in the league, he has pulled down 12.5 rebounds per 36 minutes. Through two games in the 2024-25 season, he is averaging 16.6 boards per 36 minutes.

The Athletic’s Jovan Buha reported recently that the Los Angeles Lakers have long been interested in adding Kessler to their roster.

“It’s a really good question,” Buha said when asked to name realistic trade targets for the Lakers ahead of the trade deadline. “I don’t — I think we need more time to kind of see which guys become available. I think Walker Kessler is a name that the Lakers have been interested in. That, I think, would make a lot of sense and would allow you to either start a two-big look or — probably more realistically — bring him off the bench and then play two-big shifts and then in certain matchups close with two bigs, him and A.D. (Anthony Davis) obviously.”

The Lakers have opted to have play Rui Hachimura alongside Davis in the starting lineup through three games this season. Hachimura is off to a strong start from a scoring standpoint, as he’s averaging 16.7 points on 43.6 percent shooting from the field and 50.0 percent from 3-point range.

But while Hachimura is a talented offensive player, unlike Kessler, he isn’t a highly impactful player on the less glamorous end of the floor.

Where the Lakers rank in rebounds and blocks per game so far in the young NBA season suggests that the team could benefit quite a bit from trading for a player of Kessler’s skill set. Los Angeles currently ranks 19th in the league in rebounds per game and is tied with the Golden State Warriors for 17th in rejections per contest.

Los Angeles also doesn’t have a true center in its starting lineup right now. Davis can certainly serve as a great center if the Lakers need him to play that role, but he’s spent much of his time in the NBA playing the power forward position.

The trade deadline is still months away, but Kessler stands out as someone who the Lakers should actively pursue a trade for this season.