Key Points
- The Lakers acquired center Walker Kessler from the Jazz, who signs a four-year, $130 million deal.
- Utah receives unprotected 2031 and 2033 first-round picks plus 2028 and 2030 swaps.
- Collin Sexton (2yr/$19M), Quentin Grimes (4yr/$60M) and Sandro Mamukelashvili (4yr/$52M) also signed.
- The spree came a day after LeBron James said he would leave Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Lakers spent the second day of free agency rebuilding their roster around Luka Dončić, trading for Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler and signing three free agents, per ESPN. The moves landed one day after LeBron James told the team he would leave after eight seasons — and they answer the biggest question of the post-LeBron, Luka-led era: who protects the rim.
The Kessler Trade
Kessler is the centerpiece. The Lakers are acquiring the 24-year-old center — one of the league's best shot-blockers and lob threats — in a sign-and-trade that sends Utah unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 plus pick swaps in 2028 and 2030, and he will sign a four-year, $130 million deal that includes a player option in the fourth year. It is a steep price in draft capital, but it hands Dončić the vertical-spacing, rim-running big he has never had alongside him.
The Free-Agent Class
Around Kessler, the Lakers added scoring and wing depth. Collin Sexton agreed to a two-year, $19 million deal, a downhill scoring guard to fold into the second unit.
Quentin Grimes, a 3-and-D guard, signed a four-year, $60 million deal with a player option — the kind of two-way perimeter piece a Dončić team needs to cover for his defense.
Sandro Mamukelashvili, a stretch forward-center, agreed to a four-year, $52 million deal with a player option in the fourth season, giving the frontcourt shooting behind Kessler.
The Read
This is Rob Pelinka closing the LeBron chapter and committing fully to Dončić. For seven years the Lakers built around a 40-year-old's timeline; in one night they pivoted to a 27-year-old's, spending four future first-round assets to install a defensive anchor and surrounding him with cheap, functional shooting and defense rather than another aging star. Paired with the four-year, $185 million deal that kept Austin Reaves, it sketches a younger, more sustainable core. The gamble is the draft capital: mortgaging 2028 through 2033 is a bet that Dončić's prime is a championship window, not just a highlight reel.
The roster this summer assembled will belong to a new ownership group: Josh Kushner and Bob Iger agreed to buy the Lakers at a record $12.5 billion valuation.
Source: ESPN
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