The Los Angeles Lakers' landing of Walker Kessler could backfire in the long run.
Zach Lowe is convinced that while Kessler is a solid addition for the Lakers, the assets surrendered by LA to complete his blockbuster trade arrival could eventually hurt the franchise's future.
According to the NBA expert, the Kessler landing might force the Lakers to part ways with Austin Reaves
"I like Walker Kessler as a player. People can go back and listen to the segment I did about why I think this will actually work decently for the Lakers on both ends of the floor, but there is no question that they overpaid for him 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 Reeves down the line or something like that because they're out of tradable assets because of the Walker Kessler deal," Lowe argued.
Lakers took huge gamble on Walker Kessler acquisition
The Los Angeles Lakers acquired center Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz in exchange for an unprotected 2031 first-round pick, an unprotected 2033 first-round pick, a 2028 first-round pick swap, and a 2030 first-round pick swap.
The deal is a sign-and-trade, where Kessler inked a four-year, $130 million contract with LA as a restricted free agent.
Luka Doncic primarily served as the driving force behind the Kessler deal, as the Slovenian superstar strongly pushed the Lakers to sign the big man out of his "A-list center" demand. With the arrival of the 25-year-old, the franchise found its new future center.
Although Kessler is a talented big with tremendous shot-blocking tendencies, his brutal 2025-26 season raises plenty of questions for the Lakers. He only played five games before sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury with Utah in November.
In the end, only time will be the truth teller on whether the Lakers' huge gamble on Kessler will work.
"He's played no meaningful games in the NBA basically and barely played at all last year," Lowe added. "And so, yeah, I mean, for fairly or not, those assets, much like happened to Mikal Bridges, are going to hang around his neck until he proves that he was worth it. And that's it. I don't know."