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Jazz mega three-team sign-and-trade pitch swaps future All-Star for $16 million Lakers letdown originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Utah Jazz have found themselves in an interesting situation to begin the offseason.
The franchise isn’t going to compete for championships anytime soon, but every move they make in the next few weeks could have serious implications on their future success.
The Jazz’s multidimensional 7-foot-2 center, Walker Kessler, may have unknowingly completed his last season with the Jazz, as he’s recently been involved in rampant sign-and-trade rumors. NBA reporter Evan Sidery believes there’s a world where the Jazz could swap Kessler for a $16 million Los Angeles Lakers letdown in a three-team sign-and-trade idea
“What a potential sign-and-trade between the Jazz and Lakers for Walker Kessler could look like: Utah: Deandre Ayton (opts into $8.1 million option) + 2027 first-round pick + 2030 pick swap, Los Angeles: Kessler (4-year, $125 million deal), and Brooklyn Nets: Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht, second- round picks, Sidery wrote on X/Twitter Thursday.
The Jazz’s best hope in this scenario would be receiving a motivated, highly aggressive version of Ayton that boasts a non-stop motor and doesn’t zone out at inopportune times. Ayton is only 27, and at his best, he helped the Phoenix Suns reach the NBA Finals as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
The problem is, Ayton is coming off a season in which he played erratic basketball and never provided JJ with the comfort and stability he was hoping for entering the year. Ayton contributed 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game with the Lakers, shooting 67.1% from the field in 72 contests.
If the former No. 1 overall pick joins the Jazz and underperforms, losing Kessler will feel like a substantial blunder for the lowly franchise.
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