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Walker Kessler's Five Games and the Weight of a Healthy Season

No games yet for the Lakers, but Kessler's playoff-caliber flash sets the stakes for camp.

Walker Kessler14.4 pts, 10.8 reb, 75.0% from three in just 5 games last season
By the Lakers Nightly Desk · Monday, September 21

The scoreboard still reads 0-0, and the loudest offseason noise this week came from Exhibit 10 paperwork, not box scores. Camp is close, the roster now runs twenty-one deep, and the number that matters most belongs to a big man who barely played last season.

Walker Kessler of the Lakers
Walker Kessler. Photo: Gamecock Central, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Quiet Before Camp

Nothing new landed on the transaction log in the last day and a half. The most recent moves stand: Chase Ross and Meechie Johnson signed Exhibit 10 deals September 19, and the roster now carries twenty-one names into camp. The Lakers open preseason October 5 at the Kings, with three more tune-ups against the Kings and Warriors before the regular season begins October 21 against the Warriors, broadcast on ESPN.

Kessler's Small Sample

Walker Kessler played only five games last season, but the line he left behind reads like a breakout: 14.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and a 75.0 percent clip from three, numbers that outstrip anything else in the frontcourt mix. Kevon Looney, Jarred Vanderbilt and Sandro Mamukelashvili round out that group, and a healthy Kessler changes the math on all of them if the sample holds.

Cap Math Ahead

Payroll sits at $201.3 million, past the $200.4 million tax threshold, with Luka Dončić's $49.8 million and Austin Reaves' $41.2 million as the two anchor deals. Future draft capital is thin: protected and conditional picks owed to Memphis and Brooklyn, swaps in 2028 and 2030, and an outright pick owed to Dallas in 2029. The open question is whether the front office can keep adding pieces without crossing the $209.0 million apron.

When do the Lakers play their first preseason game?

October 5 at the Kings, the first of four preseason games before the regular season opener October 21 against the Warriors on ESPN.

Are the Lakers over the luxury tax this season?

Yes. Payroll sits at $201.3 million, past the $200.4 million tax threshold, though still below the $209.0 million first apron.

By the Lakers Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.

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