The Los Angeles Lakers are less than a month away from the new NBA season, which they will enter with a very different roster than the one they had last year. LeBron James' exit grabbed most of the headlines this summer, although the team quickly pivoted by signing and trading for Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler to give themselves a new starting center.

Now, more information has come out on how that trade came to pass.

“…league sources say that Kessler's camp successfully convinced Jazz officials that he was absolutely determined to go the qualifying offer route this summer had he stayed in Utah and then proceed to unrestricted free agency next summer,” reported NBA insider Marc Stein on his Substack.

Clearly, Kessler was intent on forcing his way out of Utah, and it seems he is happy to be in his new purple and gold threads heading into this season.

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Last year, Kessler missed significant time due to an injury, which has been an unfortunate theme of his young career so far, but when he's on the court, the former Auburn Tigers star is an elite rebounder and rim protector, two areas where the Lakers struggled last year with Deandre Ayton manning the middle.

While Kessler gives Luka Doncic the lob threat he has been looking for since arriving in Los Angeles, there are still plenty of other questions on the Lakers' roster, most of which involve the team's wing depth, or lack thereof, and questions about whether or not they've surrounded Doncic and Austin Reaves with enough athleticism and defensive versatility to make up for their shortcomings on that end of the floor.

Still, having Kessler manning the paint should help out the Lakers significantly this year.