REPORTS – Utah Jazz Trade Walker Kessler to Lakers, LAND Massive Picks in Franchise SHIFT

1. Damn David, pumping out podcasts at 4:30am! Awesome!

2. Obviously this trade is a difficult decision for passionate jazz fans to process as the timeline to compete seems likely to be delayed. I appreciate this attempt by a jazz employee and a passionate jazz supporter to explain the decision… thank you.

3. I’m seeing so many jazz fans on twitter saying Walker is trash and injury prone… it was sad to see really. How bad will the jazz be on the interior? Jjj isn’t spending his full time in the paint, he’s going to be at the perimeter some too. Do you know what Lauri/nurkic rim protection looks like? This is why I say letting walk hit free agency was the worst idea… the jazz have been collecting picks for almost 5 years now. Now you have more. And how good are those draft picks going to be? Will a Luka led team really not make the playoffs when we have seen him make it all but 2 years and he’s entering his prime. The lakers aren’t going to be middling for those swaps to be utilized. Utah ended up with less leverage at the end. Literally all the teams with cap space were willing to overpay massively for Walker. We see his defensive metrics and he was only going to improve. Are we sure this was the right move? People criticized New York for mikal bridges and Karl Anthony towns trade but it won them a chip and a high seed in the playoffs for 2-3 years.

4. Hayes isn’t Slovenian lol. He just became a citizen so he can play with Luka for his national team

5. Would the Jazz consider playing Markkenan at the 5? How would that work?

6. just gave the lakers and luka doncic walker kessler 🫠

7. Ba-da-bum-bum-bum-boom….
   
   Kessler gone, bro.
   
   Jazz offered 28.5 million.

8. lol “I’m a team employee”

9. Jaren is not good without a massive center beside him. Memphis can tell you all about it

10. So happy about this trade. Danny Ainge is creating a powerhouse team. We have too much talent to give Walker all that money. Let’s not pay a player who doesn’t want to be here

11. Hayes spits on women. Very cool! Welcome to utah!

12. If Walker was actually bothered by the JJJ trade, that tells me everything I need to know. Move on and get someone who doesn't view team building as a zero sum exercise. So glad we got so much draft capital in return.

13. It would have been MORE than 32.5 million to keep him. At LEAST 35 if the Lakers had to make a larger offer because Jazz wouldn’t take draft picks to keep the price at 32.5.

14. There is nothing good in that, when player interested only in money, Jazz and coaching stuff made so much for this guy, he won't stay even two more years to sea how the team will developed, instead go for LA that doesn't have a championship team and have a injury prone leader… This Kessler is very bad Human being 😢😢

15. You can definitely make the case he wasn’t worth the money he wanted, but the Jazz are definitely worse without him. I see a lot of people saying he was trash. Talk about a cope.

16. From a macro CBA management level, this is how Ainge and company will have to churn through the roster going forward.

    Jazz have an abundance of talent, but they can only afford to keep (and pay) the absolute best. As Key, Ace and Darryn earn contracts, the Jazz front office will strategically move guys if it's not a "good value" contract.

    It's just good business to get picks now, rather than later when you're forced to give up picks to move the "poorer-value" contracts, which ended up being the case with Walker's.

17. Keyonte is infinitely more replaceable than Walker.

18. The Jazz are being cheap.

19. Well from Kesslers perspective Utah has zero playmakers in its core 6. 4 volume shooters and a mid range post scorer, not exactly a pick and roll big’s dream. OR he can go play on a team with Luka (who made lively and gafford look like all stars) and AR15 who is a good pick and roll player. Walker is clear cut number 3 player on that roster.

    It doesn’t have to be Walker just didn’t want to be in Utah. His preference to go to LA is frankly a good individual career decision.

20. Jazz helping the lakers form the whitest team possible is hilarious 😂

21. Walker is greedy and handled this situation like a loser IMO. Now he is stuck in the arm pit of America known as L.A. Enjoy the homelessness, the smell, driving past encampments, the terrible city leadership, the high taxes, and Luka who is lazy, a bad teammate, endless complainer, and a ballhog. Karma will bite Walker, guarantee it. Grass is not greener and he will discover that very soon. Luka will never take him to the top because he doesn't have the "it" factor. Utah is going places and Walker isn't. I'm done with Walker. Good riddance. You won't be missed.

22. The jazz have to get off Lauris contract . Also overpaying Kessler at 40 million wouldn't have been good for the jazz or the Lakers that's why they both did an unprecedented rfa deal. The jazz didn't decide that 32.5 was too much…. They didn't want to pay 40 million a year and neither did the Lakers and that's what would have happened. It's a sign and trade which locke isn't even mentioning it's not us matching a rfa sheet.

23. I feel like this is a situation of a bad contract coming back to bite us. If we would have traded Lauri years ago, we would have easily been able to sign both Walker and Keyonte. Trading for JJJ was a sign that the tank is over, but trading Walker away is a sign of still being mid.

24. Players are commodities. The juice was not worth the squeeze above the Jazz offer. What's likely is that the Jazz have a plan A, B, and C waiting in the wings, now with valuable picks in their back pocket.

25. With Hayes considering how weak the market was on centers is pretty solid.

26. I think there was another factor because we were hearing there were offers in the mid to high 30s. 37 a year was stilling for some reason.

    I think Palinka knew the Jazz were intending to match as they had all the leverage, and called the Jazz to make a deal.

    The Jazz agreed because the Lakers were willing to go up to 40 million, potentially more, and that was the reason the haul seemed like a better prospect than having a more competitive roster this season.

    I think like us, the Jazz front office was worried that they’d be forced to go too high on Walker. Maybe the Ainges simply knew how desperate Palinka was and intended something like this going in.

27. I wonder if okc would entertain one of the two laker first round picks and one of the two pick swaps for aday Mara

28. The real truth is players work hard 😓 and hope to get a bigger slice and it requires one to be smart about it which makes it seem like a player is selfish. Owners and players have a cba and one has to go about business in a ruthless way or they both get stuck. Kessler wanted a bidding war and we will see if that is smart for his future. He is leaving money 💰 on the table compared to jazz. 140m vs 130m but I think 🤔 Kessler knows by age that is smart if he improves he will get paid more when he does another big 💰 and that’ll be his last big haul assuming he stays healthy. The jazz will survive either way as Kessler want even available. We as fans just wanted to see if what we had on paper 📄 was for real 😳

29. There comes a time when the future needs to be now….and the narrative needs to stop being about the good things coming around the corner. Just dissapointed that isn’t now…

30. Jazz will be just fine and these picks will be amazing for us. Mark my words.

31. The picks and swaps along with avoiding a bad contract are nothing but W’s for the Jazz. We can do way better in a year or two. IMO Lauri is the next to be moved next offseason as that is a very bad deal.

32. I wonder how many Jazz Fans are upset?

    Yes we had expectations, yes we watched Walk develop and he was a bright spot after losing Gobert. Yes, we grow attracted to roster members. And yes it’s a bummer we’re not as competitive on paper as we were a day ago.

    However, I was genuinely worried Walker would command an offer sheet that the Jazz would be forced to pick up, and it would seriously hinder the Jazz’s ability to really compete in a few years.

    I’m wondering how many of us are actually relieved it didn’t end up as a 35+ million per year contract that the Jazz matched?

33. I think the draft haul is potentially important for our true championship window. The 2030 swap and 31 pick come in almost exactly when we need talent under rookie contracts because we can only keep 3 large contracts.

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