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Lakers’ dire draft pick situation after sending Jazz trade haul for Walker Kessler
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- Lakers’ dire draft pick situation after sending Jazz trade haul for Walker Kessler
Lakers' dire draft pick situation after sending Jazz trade haul for Walker Kessler appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers made a massive move, trading for Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade maneuver, per Shams Charania of ESPN. In exchange, the Lakers gave two first-round picks and two pick swaps and will sign Kessler to a four-year, $130 million deal.
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While the move shores up the Lakers' frontcourt issues, it's also a massive price to pay for a player who has struggled to stay on the floor at times throughout his career, and recently, ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel highlighted just how barren the Lakers' draft pick situation is moving forward.
"The Lakers now have no tradeable first-round draft picks over the next 7 years after this sign-and-trade for Walker Kessler . Los Angeles is now also committed to $475 million between Luka Doncic , Austin Reaves , and Walker Kessler ," reported Siegel on X, formerly Twitter.
It's certainly a win-now move for the Lakers, but it's not clear that the Lakers have a win-now roster in place, especially following this week's news that LeBron James will be taking his talents elsewhere in free agency. While Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic are both locked up for the long term, the Lakers lost Marcus Smart to the Houston Rockets in free agency on Wednesday, and Rui Hachimura is also expected to land on a new team, leaving Los Angeles very thin when it comes to wing and backcourt depth.
Kessler figures to be a good center archetype to succeed next to Doncic, but unless Rob Pelinka is able to pull a rabbit out of a hat over the next few days, it's difficult to envision the Lakers being able to field a truly competitive roster as soon as next year.
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Related: Grading Lakers' $130 million Walker Kessler sign-and-trade with Jazz
