New Los Angeles Lakers starting center Walker Kessler is the team's biggest and riskiest offseason bet, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic.
Woike questioned whether the young big man can justify the major investment Los Angeles made to acquire him.
"We should first acknowledge the danger of not making this move," Woike wrote in his article. "Let's say the Lakers settled on a shorter-term solution at the position.
"That could have sent a message to Doncic that his priority didn't align with the team's. That even if the center market wasn't great. That Doncic would need to wait longer for a real answer that might not ever come. That stuff is all true."
The Lakers acquired Kessler from the Utah Jazz in July, sending unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033, along with first-round pick swaps in 2028 and 2030. Kessler then agreed to a four-year deal worth approximately $129.5 million.
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LA insider points to lack of high-stakes experience
While the trade addressed one of the Lakers' biggest needs around Luka Doncic, Woike pointed to Kessler's lack of meaningful NBA games as the main concern.
"But Kessler has played virtually no high-stakes basketball as an NBA player," Woike noted. "He's not been put in a position where he needs to be a near All-Star-level center or better to make the steep price the Lakers paid feel palatable."
Kessler spent his first four NBA seasons with Utah, which did not reach the playoffs during his tenure there.
"It was a necessary swing, but it was unquestionably the Lakers' biggest," Woike added. "And the bigger the swing, the bigger the chance for a miss."
Last season, Kessler appeared in just five games before undergoing surgery for a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
Before the injury, the 25-year-old had established himself as one of the league's top rim protectors.
In 2024-25, Kessler averaged 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks in 58 games, starting all of them.