No Extension for Walker Kessler?

[framer]

Man, I freely admit to nothing almost nothing about the cap because it's math and utterly boring, but can someone explain how it's even possible for the Lakers to have two players making 100 million between them and somehow be in a position to even make trades, let alone sign free agents?

You are assuming Lebron leaves after this year to get that cap space.

 

[framer]

Also, the Jazz have done pretty well for themselves when they have large amounts of capspace and a plan to win. We haven't gotten the top free agents, but have done well with the Boozer and Okur level FA that every team but about 5 make do with.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Also, the Jazz have done pretty well for themselves when they have large amounts of capspace and a plan to win. We haven't gotten the top free agents, but have done well with the Boozer and Okur level FA that every team but about 5 make do with.

Not a bad point

 

[jazznik]

Also, the Jazz have done pretty well for themselves when they have large amounts of capspace and a plan to win. We haven't gotten the top free agents, but have done well with the Boozer and Okur level FA that every team but about 5 make do with.

This is some alternative history. The Jazz have never bagged good free agents. Boozer is a special case because the Cavs and Boozer were trying to pull off some shady stuff and Boozer outwitted them: he was never a normal FA that had time to be courted by many teams.

Boozer aside, the best FAs that the Jazz were able to get in the last 30 years were Okur (following his 10-6 season), Bojan, Harpring and Raja Bell. Which is pretty underwhelming, TBH.

 

[framer]

This is some alternative history. The Jazz have never bagged good free agents. Boozer is a special case because the Cavs and Boozer were trying to pull off some shady stuff and Boozer outwitted them: he was never a normal FA that had time to be courted by many teams.

Boozer aside, the best FAs that the Jazz were able to get in the last 30 years were Okur (following his 10-6 season), Bojan, Harpring and Raja Bell. Which is pretty underwhelming, TBH.

How many times have the Jazz had gobs of money to throw at free agents? Just the times you mention here, and these were all good free agents at the time we picked them up.

And Boozee ABSOLUTELY counts as a win in free agency regardless of the circumstances.

 

[jazznik]

How many times have the Jazz had gobs of money to throw at free agents? Just the times you mention here, and these were all good free agents at the time we picked them up.

And Boozee ABSOLUTELY counts as a win in free agency regardless of the circumstances.

Well if you count on the situation with Boozer being repeated this summer... good luck!

But if we look at the actual list of the available free agents, the best players in 2026 are Kessler, John Collins, Mathurin and Ivey. So, yeah: if the Jazz throw gobs of money at free agents they can get Kessler and John Collins.

 

[Flc]

Boozer aside, the best FAs that the Jazz were able to get in the last 30 years were Okur (following his 10-6 season), Bojan, Harpring and Raja Bell. Which is pretty underwhelming, TBH.

This is what the second apron is meant to address. They’re trying to force an end to superteams and spread the stars out across the league. We’ll see if it works.

 

[KqWIN]

IMO, having Kessler on a contract that becomes <15% of the cap down the road is more valuable than <$10M in cap space this upcoming summer. But if we get Eason + Ellis I’ll happily be wrong. I don’t even know if there’s a guy worth $30M+ this summer we could target.

 

[JimLes]

You are assuming Lebron leaves after this year to get that cap space.

But he has give no indication this is his last year, and I can't imagine a universe in which the Lakers are currently paying his diabolically bad son while planning to let LeBron go next year.

 

[Hedda Gambler]

If Kessler continues to look this good over the next 20+ games, we will have one of the best trade chips in the entire league on our hands. By trading Kessler, we could give a contending team cap relief by taking on a larger contract and a very good player that not only helps them now, but has a low cap hold for next season, which could give a team like the Lakers the opportunity to sign someone else and then reup Kessler.

 

[KqWIN]

If Kessler continues to look this good over the next 20+ games, we will have one of the best trade chips in the entire league on our hands. By trading Kessler, we could give a contending team cap relief by taking on a larger contract and a very good player that not only helps them now, but has a low cap hold for next season, which could give a team like the Lakers the opportunity to sign someone else and then reup Kessler.

It's a good point that hasn't been mentioned. Had he been extended, they couldn't trade him (they can but it'd be difficult due to BYC). I don't think the Jazz are particularly high on Kessler, so they may have wanted to keep a trade a possibility. It still would have made more sense for them to trade him earlier, however.

 

[The Jazz Wonderbra]

Meh, Walker is a really good player who isn't a Max player. Those negotiations are always difficult. I love Walker, there have not been many bigger Walker defenders on the board than me, but there are reasons to wait on a contract.

1. Walker is way easier to deal as is than if he was signed to a large contract. Half the people on this board lamented not trading Lauri on his previous contract because now he is difficult to move on his new larger contract. If the Jazz made a mistake there, then this is a correction.

2. Signing Walker to a large contract locks your team into an identity. The Jazz have a lot of options on how to build their team right now. If you commit to Kessler, you are locking in to a certain play style, a play style that we just recently failed at. Conversely, this limits his league wide appeal. He is also a better target as a finishing piece rather than a building block.

3. Squeezing really good, non Max players as RFAs has a solid record of success. If he's good enough to start a bidding war, great! We win. If the jury is still out, we likely get him a a great price. What you cannot do is overspend on a Center in the modern NBA if that center is not Jokic.

That being said, I hope Kessler plays here for years to come.

Well spoken

 

[The Jazz Wonderbra]

Here's a cynical position...

What if the league turns a blind eye on Kawhi? Why not give Kessler a $20 million / year + the Ballmeresque incentive deal? Add the Ballmer bag of other incentives that reach the $50 million dollar gap while maintaining cap flexibility.

Of course, if the league enforces it's own rules then this would be cheating and we wouldnt ever consider it. But if the punishment is some legal slap to the wrist... let's do it with the entire youth movement and keep them together.

Go win a championship... and tell Adam Silver to enforce the rules on everyone or no one.

 

[framer]

Here's a cynical position...

What if the league turns a blind eye on Kawhi? Why not give Kessler a $20 million / year + the Ballmeresque incentive deal? Add the Ballmer bag of other incentives that reach the $50 million dollar gap while maintaining cap flexibility.

Of course, if the league enforces it's own rules then this would be cheating and we wouldnt ever consider it. But if the punishment is some legal slap to the wrist... let's do it with the entire youth movement and keep them together.

Go win a championship... and tell Adam Silver to enforce the rules on everyone or no one.

Like giving them all their own car dealerships? Doesn't sound like something we would do. . .

 

[The Jazz Wonderbra]

Like giving them all their own car dealerships? Doesn't sound like something we would do. . .

Like I said... I'm being cynical. If Ballmer can do it... it is cheating and it should be punished. Otherwise, we need to plant some trees under a shady LLC to compete.

 

[Elizah Huge]

It's a good point that hasn't been mentioned. Had he been extended, they couldn't trade him (they can but it'd be difficult due to BYC). I don't think the Jazz are particularly high on Kessler, so they may have wanted to keep a trade a possibility. It still would have made more sense for them to trade him earlier, however.

Would it? If he keeps playing like this his value will be the highest it’s ever been.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Meh, Walker is a really good player who isn't a Max player. Those negotiations are always difficult. I love Walker, there have not been many bigger Walker defenders on the board than me, but there are reasons to wait on a contract.

1. Walker is way easier to deal as is than if he was signed to a large contract. Half the people on this board lamented not trading Lauri on his previous contract because now he is difficult to move on his new larger contract. If the Jazz made a mistake there, then this is a correction.

2. Signing Walker to a large contract locks your team into an identity. The Jazz have a lot of options on how to build their team right now. If you commit to Kessler, you are locking in to a certain play style, a play style that we just recently failed at. Conversely, this limits his league wide appeal. He is also a better target as a finishing piece rather than a building block.

3. Squeezing really good, non Max players as RFAs has a solid record of success. If he's good enough to start a bidding war, great! We win. If the jury is still out, we likely get him a a great price. What you cannot do is overspend on a Center in the modern NBA if that center is not Jokic.

That being said, I hope Kessler plays here for years to come.

Man almost none of this is true. The main points of contention:

- a **** ton of non-max extensions got done. it ain't max or nothing.
- There are catastrophic examples of squeezing extension eligible players and ending up having it bite you in the *** hard. Gordon here and Jalen Brunson another.

 

[KqWIN]

Would it? If he keeps playing like this his value will be the highest it’s ever been.

I'm more speaking to the Jazz process and strategy wrt Kessler. Of course Kessler's improved play will increase his value. The part that wouldn't make sense is expecting a big improvement from a guy you didn't believe in. I'm assuming that if the Jazz didn't like him, they didn't expect this breakout either. So if it works out this way where Kessler is traded and at more value than they could have had before before, I'd say that's being better lucky than good.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

Would it? If he keeps playing like this his value will be the highest it’s ever been.

Likely roughly the same I would guess. You'd know the price was going to be higher on the extension.

If he keeps playing like this though I think it might be less likely he gets traded because they would ask for more... the trade looks really bad if you don't get a haul and he's balling out. I think if this continues you end up paying him close to the max and having him stay. I'm sure he tails off a bit (though tonight he may feast).