{"id":597762,"date":"2026-02-12T00:02:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T00:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/597762\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T00:02:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T00:02:22","slug":"raptors-joined-pacers-in-offering-multiple-1st-round-picks-for-walker-kessler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/597762\/","title":{"rendered":"Raptors joined Pacers in offering multiple 1st-round picks for Walker Kessler"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Raptors<\/a> and the Indiana Pacers<\/a> reportedly had eyes for Utah Jazz<\/a> center Walker Kessler<\/a> ahead of last week\u2019s NBA trade deadline. The Raptors\u2019 trade interest in Kessler was well documented<\/a> before Toronto\u2019s deal with the Los Angeles Clippers for Chris Paul. The same could be said about the Pacers ahead of their trade with the Clippers for Ivica Zubac.<\/p>\n

League sources confirmed the Raptors\u2019 strong push for Kessler<\/a>, per ClutchPoints\u2019 Brett Siegel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to talking with the Kings about Sabonis and the Grizzlies about Jackson Jr., the Raptors also made a very strong push the day of the trade deadline for Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz, league sources confirmed to ClutchPoints,\u201d Siegel reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cMultiple first-round picks were offered by the Raptors for Kessler, who is out for the season after undergoing surgery for a torn labrum in his left shoulder, yet the Jazz held zero interest in trading their young big man.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pacers also reportedly also expressed interest in Kessler before pivoting to Zubac.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther teams, including the Pacers before landing Zubac, showed heavy interest in trading for Kessler,\u201d Siegel added. \u201cThe Jazz are fully expected to retain Kessler as a restricted free agent in the summer on a new long-term contract. After trading for Jackson Jr., Utah sees itself having a formidable big-man trio that can do damage defensively during the 2026-27 season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kessler complements a dynamic frontcourt duo led by 2023\u2019s Defensive Player of the Year, Jaren Jackson Jr., and the Jazz\u2019s leading scorer, Lauri Markkanen.<\/p>\n

Jazz reportedly turned down 2 unprotected first-round picks\"PacersChris Nicoll-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Jazz reportedly turned down the Pacers\u2019 trade offer<\/a> for Walker Kessler, which included two future first-round picks. Perhaps an offer similar to the one the Clippers received for Ivica Zubac, which included two future first-round picks and one second-round pick.<\/p>\n

The Jazz turned down the Pacers\u2019 trade offer<\/a> ahead of the deadline, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSources: Indiana Pacers made a run at Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler and offered a package highlighted by two unprotected first-round picks,\u201d Haynes reported. \u201cIt was declined, and Pacers pivoted to Zubac. Kessler will be in demand as a restricted free agent this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kessler seems to be a big part of the Jazz’s future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Raptors and the Indiana Pacers reportedly had eyes for Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler ahead of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3774],"tags":[7,113,126,3866,6,6050,1540,114,476,427,1405],"class_list":{"0":"post-597762","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indiana-pacers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-indiana","10":"tag-indiana-pacers","11":"tag-indianapacers","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-nba-rumors","14":"tag-nba-stories","15":"tag-pacers","16":"tag-toronto-raptors","17":"tag-utah-jazz","18":"tag-walker-kessler"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116054730950942572","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}