What the Utah Jazz decide to do with Walker Kessler this offseason is and will be quite the elephant in the room until the offseason approaches. The Jazz may have made the team-friendly decision to wait until next year’s agency, but Kessler’s reported asking price may have also factored into the route the Jazz took, and only amplifies the pressure on them this coming offseason.
Dallas Hoops Journal’s Grant Afseth reported just how high a price Kessler was asking for, to which the Jazz were not willing to meet.
“In contract discussions with the Jazz, Kessler sought upwards of $120 million in total compensation for a long-term contract extension, sources told DallasHoopsJournal.com, but Utah was unwilling to commit to that price range,” Afseth wrote.
“There was a clear gap in talks between Kessler and Utah,” one source told Afseth.
Kessler’s been a cool story in Utah. Sure, it’s been a little topsy-turvy, but he became a fun surprise for the Jazz when many considered him an afterthought in the Rudy Gobert trade. In short, he’s proven he’s an elite rim protector and rebounder, two qualities that are not easy to replace.
Before his season ended prematurely, Kessler also showed a promising three-ball and improved playmaking. Had it not been for his season-ending shoulder injury, it would have been hard not to think Kessler was worth what he was asking for. At the same time, had he sustained his improved play, it might have upped his price.
His injury will loom large in contract negotiations
Only time will tell if Kessler will back off his asking price from this summer, or better yet, increase it. He may never be a go-to scorer, but he has already shown how good he is at multiple facets of the game. The only issue is the sample size (only regarding his shooting and passing).
However, he could use the fact that he has managed to play as well as he has on only one effective shoulder in negotiations. When he gets a clean bill of health for next season, Kessler may very well prove how much better he is as a player when he’s 100%, which everyone just found he never was in his four seasons as a Jazzman.
The pressure will be on Utah to decide whether it’s worth flipping the coin by giving Kessler that money, or flipping a separate coin to let him go to another team. What Utah may hold against Kessler is the fact that, despite his making a name for himself as a Jazzman, it hasn’t translated into results. That topic is definitely a chicken-or-egg situation, but the team will definitely bargain as much as it can.
It’s become clear that Kessler believes in the value he brings to the floor. The Jazz don’t agree with his self-assessment, so now it may become a matter fo who blinks first come July.