It has now been confirmed that Walker Kessler will miss the remainder of the 2025/26 season after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. As if that wasn’t crushing enough for the Utah Jazz, their decision not to extend Kessler before the season started actually turned out to be the right one for reasons they never intended.
For context, the Jazz opted not to extend Kessler when they had the chance this offseason, but don’t get it twisted. They made this choice primarily to maintain their cap flexibility this summer, not because they didn’t believe in Kessler. Not extending him gives them plenty of room to extend him, while also allowing them to sign a big free agent (like Philadelphia did with Tyrese Maxey and Paul George in 2024).
This strategy did not exactly suit Kessler, but belongs to the domain of limited freedom of choice. It doesn’t mean the Jazz would repeat history with the Gordon Hayward fiasco, but it gives them a chance to make themselves and Kessler happy in the long run, even if his contract extension had to be delayed.
After the latest news about Kessler, it turned out that the Jazz were right to do this in a way they probably didn’t prefer.
Kessler’s injury could pave the way for Utah to pay him less
Because Kessler will enter restricted free agency after a season that was derailed extremely early due to injury, the Jazz have leverage in extension talks. In professional sports it’s all about, “What have you done for me lately?” which Utah would be smart to use with Kessler, as awful as that sounds. If there’s one manager who takes full advantage of this strategy, it’s Danny Ainge.
That doesn’t mean they’ll downplay his offense, but they may be stingy if they offer him a lower price than he would like. What makes this situation even worse for Kessler’s sake is that it appeared he had reached a new level as a player early in the season, which would likely have increased his price had this shoulder injury not occurred, and he kept up the pace.
While the Jazz may be thrilled to sign someone as valuable as Kessler to a long-term contract at below market value, this could fuel friction between the two sides. The Jazz made the move primarily not because they felt Kessler wasn’t worth paying what he might have wanted, but merely as a formality, a team-friendly decision.
Regardless, Kessler will likely remain a Jazzman going forward. If Utah keeps him at a lower price than originally planned, that will be fine, but it shouldn’t have turned out the way it looks.
#controversial #jazz #movement #justified #tragic