The Lakers have already spent big on Walker Kessler. They just have not seen him in a preseason game yet.
That is the awkward backdrop as Los Angeles heads into Tuesday’s exhibition against the Warriors, with the team not committed to Kessler making his debut. JJ Redick said Kessler was in for about half of Saturday’s practice, but the Lakers still have not set a specific return date for the center, who has missed all three preseason games with a finger injury.
Kessler’s absence leaves the Lakers trying to answer a basic question without the most useful evidence: what does he look like in game action? That matters because the front office already paid a steep price to get him, sending out two unprotected first-round picks and two pick-swap rights. Until he actually plays, the evaluation is stuck in limbo.
The injury itself has been relatively straightforward. Kessler jammed his finger during training camp, reportedly on the backboard, and was ruled out of the team’s first preseason game. He has not played since. Redick’s update suggested the situation is not being treated as a major concern right now, but the team’s caution has still kept Kessler off the floor through the entire exhibition slate.
That has made the Lakers’ preseason problems harder to ignore. In Thursday’s game against the Kings, they gave up 20 offensive rebounds. They have also averaged the fourth-most turnovers per game in the preseason. Those numbers do not prove what Kessler would fix, but they do show why the Lakers were eager to get a look at him in a real game setting.
The timing is especially frustrating because Kessler had been able to participate fully in practice before the finger issue slowed him down. Saturday was only a partial session, though, and that limited workload is part of why Tuesday remains uncertain. The Lakers are still waiting for the first chance to see how he fits with the group they assembled around him.
There is also a longer-term layer to the concern. Kessler has already dealt with numerous minor injuries in his career, even though there are no major concerns with his availability right now. That history does not change the current diagnosis, but it does sit in the background while the Lakers wait for him to get through a preseason debut that has already taken on outsized importance.
For now, the Lakers are left with an expensive investment and very little on-court evidence. Tuesday may bring the first answer. It may not. Either way, the scrutiny has already started.