sports
Lakers Complete Sign-and-Trade for Walker Kessler and Sign Three Free Agents
The Los Angeles Lakers agreed to a sign-and-trade deal for center Walker Kessler and signed three unrestricted free agents in a 35-minute span on Wednesday. The moves followed LeBron James informing the team he would continue his career elsewhere.
Jul 7, 11:14 AM·1m read1 source
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The Los Angeles Lakers completed a sign-and-trade for center Walker Kessler with the Utah Jazz and signed three unrestricted free agents on Wednesday morning. The transactions occurred roughly six hours after LeBron James informed the Lakers he would continue his career elsewhere. Lakers governor Jeanie Buss released a statement thanking James for his eight years with the franchise.
The Lakers agreed to the Kessler deal and then signed Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton in quick succession. The team retained its $52 million in cap space during the league-wide free-agent period. Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard signed with other teams. The Lakers also traded center Deandre Ayton to the Wizards for guard Jaden Hardy and two future second-round picks.
A source familiar with James' thinking told ESPN that the 41-year-old felt it was time to move on and wanted to extend his career playing meaningful, competitive basketball. Multiple team sources said there was no personal rift between James and Luka Doncic.
Sources told ESPN that a disconnect between James and the organization began during the 2021-22 season and never fully recovered. James recognized the Lakers were in a different phase with their franchise, according to the sources.
The Lakers had inquired about Kessler as far back as the 2023-24 season, sources told ESPN. Utah's asking price had previously been too steep. The move came together after Doncic gave the front office a directive to find an A-list center. Kessler was a restricted free agent seeking a raise, and the Jazz decided to build around this year's No. 2 draft pick Darryn Peterson instead.
