NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates
The Lakers secured their starting center of the future in a massive trade with Utah on Wednesday, agreeing to send two first-round picks (2031 and 2033) and two pick swaps (2028 and 2030) to the Jazz in exchange for 24-year-old Walker Kessler, sources not authorized to speak publicly on the matter confirmed Wednesday to The Times.
Kessler, who was limited to five games last season because of a shoulder injury, is expected to sign a four-year, $130-million contract with the Lakers, people with knowledge of the situation said.
Advertisement
The center was a restricted free agent, but the Lakers worked around difficult negotiating limitations by throwing in nearly every first-round asset they had in addition to digging into their $51 million in salary-cap space. If the Lakers had only presented an offer sheet to the Jazz to lure Kessler away instead of working on a trade, Utah would have had until July 7 to match the offer.
Kessler’s addition, a day after LeBron James told the Lakers that he’d return for an unprecedented 24th season elsewhere, highlighted a flurry of transactions that will help the Lakers remake their roster around Luka Doncic. Soon after the Kessler trade Wednesday, the Lakers agreed to terms with three free agents — center Sandro Mamukelashvili, guard Quentin Grimes and guard Collin Sexton.
Kessler is a much-needed defensive backstop. The 7-foot-2 center has averaged 2.4 blocks over his career. He was off to a strong start last season in Utah before a season-ending shoulder injury. The previous season, he averaged 11.1 points and 12.2 rebounds. His 4.6 offensive rebounds per game in 2024-25 led the league.
Mamukelashvili declined a $2.8-million player option with the Toronto Raptors and was rewarded with a four-year, $52-million deal with the Lakers, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Times. Primarily coming off the bench, the Georgian center averaged 11.2 points and 4.8 rebounds for the Raptors last season.
Toronto’s Sandro Mamukelashvili scores on a layup in front of Wizards forward Anthony Gill on Feb. 28 in Washington. (Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
His three-point…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/lakers-reload-sandro-mamukelashvili-walker-175004198.html
Author :
Publish date : 2026-07-01 17:50:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
