Jazz Trading for Jusuf Nurkic has Lakers Fans Buzzing on Potential Walker Kessler Move: “Bigger Trade Incoming”

Los Angeles Lakers have been trying to construct packages to entice the Utah Jazz to part with 24-year-old center Walker Kessler.

Jazz Trading for Jusuf Nurkic has Lakers Fans Buzzing on Potential Walker Kessler Move: “Bigger Trade Incoming”

Jazz trading for Jusuf Nurkic could be precursor to Walker Kessler exit (Image via FirstSportz)

Over the past few years, the Utah Jazz have consistently been one of the worst teams in the league. That should generally push CEO Danny Ainge to build a prospectively competitive team through the draft and the trade market.

They have a plethora of tradeable assets, both in terms of picks and players. In terms of picks, their tanking efforts last season did not work out the way they would have liked, and they fell out of the Top 4.

Then they selected Rutgers star Ace Bailey at No. 5. That is despite his agent asking the team, along with other Top 4 franchises, not to select his client, else face an unsigned rookie tender. Now they seem to have softened that approach.

The Jazz still need a lot of talent around Bailey if they are to start playing better basketball. They have other good young pieces in the form of Walker Kessler, Isaiah Collier, and a few others. At the same time, they also have some veterans on expiring contracts.

One of them was 27-year-old guard Collin Sexton, who they had traded in from the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Donovan Mitchell trade. ESPN’s NBA Insider, Shams Charania, revealed that the franchise traded him away to the Charlotte Hornets.

They sent an additional 2nd round pick and received center Jusuf Nurkic in return. The Bosnian is also on an expiring contract, which is around $500,000 more than what they were about to pay to their star guard.

Lakers fans excited for potential Walker Kessler arrival from the Jazz

The problem with this trade was that Utah Jazz fans could not understand why their franchise would make such a trade. In essence, they lost one of their top scorers, who was instrumental in the development of Collier.

In return, they receive a center who is a marginal starting player at best. His trials with the Phoenix Suns led him to be traded away this past year, and now the Jazz receive him on a slightly more expensive contract.

This led basketball fans, and particularly those who support the Los Angeles Lakers, to believe that the Jazz brought in a center to offset a potential trade involving Walker Kessler. He has been linked with their team for a while, and this move could mean the young center will move soon.

Last season, the Lakers wanted Kessler before the February trade deadline, but the Utah Jazz’s demands were a bit too much for the 17-time champions. Now, the trade value for centers has diminished, and that has possibly softened the franchise’s stance on their demands.

Walker Kessler arriving from Jazz, would be a major boost for Lakers

After Luka Doncic arrived from the Dallas Mavericks, one of the 1st requests he made to the Los Angeles Lakers’ top brass was to have an athletic center whom he can throw lobs to. The franchise tried to satisfy that request by trading for Mark Williams.

LeBron James and Luka Doncic want a title-winning roster
LeBron James and Luka Doncic want a title-winning roster (Image via Blockbet/X)

However, they backed out at the last moment after having concerns over his physical well-being. Since then, every fan, analyst, and executive knew that the purple and gold franchise would look for a young center.

Once the market opened for business after the NBA Finals, Lakers fans wondered what their team was doing to improve that roster. LeBron James‘ demands have made it clear that he wants to compete for a title before he retires.

The Lakers have been looking at all possibilities to facilitate that and also build a team for the future. However, with limited draft capital and cap space, they cannot go all out to bring in a player of choice.

Instead, they have to work with what they have. However, their search for a center should not take too long, as teams have to start preparing for their offseason plans. Doncic and James are locked in to doing better than what they did last season.

Also Read: