Zach Lowe reveals how Walker Kessler could ‘trap’ Lakers into Austin Reaves trade

Landing Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz might have put the Los Angeles Lakers in a tough spot regarding Austin Reaves’ future with the franchise.

Kessler completed the fourth season of his NBA career with the Jazz. He recovered from shoulder surgery as he missed all but five games throughout the 2025-26 season.

The young center has now placed his focus on helping out the Lakers. Los Angeles pulled off a sign-and-trade for Kessler, acquiring him in exchange for draft compensation to give to Utah.

Los Angeles embraces an important era with Luka Doncic and Reaves as the main stars on the team. However, financial constraints following the trade for Kessler might make things tricky for the organization, per analyst Zach Lowe.

“There’s no question that they overpaid for him [Walker Kessler] and are now trapped with this team and have to figure out: either this is the team or is there a way to pivot by trading Austin Reaves down the line or something like that. They are out of tradeable assets because of the Walker Kessler deal,” Lowe said.

Zach Lowe says the Lakers are TRAPPED after the Walker Kessler trade and may be forced to trade Austin Reaves

“There’s no question that they overpaid for him [Walker Kessler] and are now trapped with this team and have to figure out: either this is the team or is there a way to… pic.twitter.com/zZYyUZewDE

— NBABase (@TheNBABase) August 9, 2026

What lies ahead for Walker Kessler, Lakers

Walker Kessler hopes to achieve great things as a member of the Lakers. The team hopes they can pull it off while they still have the trio of him, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for the long term.

Kessler averaged 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, three assists, 1.8 blocks, and 1.4 steals per game in five contests. The year prior, he produced 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per contest in 58 games.

Los Angeles finished with a 53-29 record this past season, finishing fourth in the Western Conference standings. They took down the Houston Rockets in six games before falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a four-game sweep.

The Lakers regrouped in the offseason, departing from LeBron James, Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, and Luke Kennard. They replaced them with Kessler, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashveli, Quentin Grimes, Kevon Looney, and Jaden Hardy.

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