After just five games, Walker Kessler‘s fourth NBA season is over. The Jazz center will undergo left shoulder surgery and will miss the rest of the 2025/26 campaign, according to reports from Tony Jones of The Athletic and NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter links).
Kessler has been diagnosed with a torn labrum, per Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who confirms that the big man is out for the season.
According to Haynes (Twitter link), Kessler injured the shoulder early in training camp and recently reaggravated the injury. He’s expected to undergo the procedure on Thursday, Haynes adds.
The 22nd overall pick in the 2022 draft, Kessler was traded from Minnesota to Utah in the Rudy Gobert blockbuster that summer. The 24-year-old has since emerged as the Jazz’s starting center, establishing new career highs last season in points (11.1), rebounds (12.2), and assists (1.7) per game across 58 outings. He also matched a career high with 2.4 blocks per contest and led the NBA with 4.6 offensive rebounds per night.
Kessler started Utah’s first five games this season, averaging 14.4 PPG, 10.8 RPG, and 3.0 APG in 30.8 MPG, before being held out of the past two contests due to what the team initially referred to as left shoulder bursitis.
Kessler’s injury probably won’t significantly impact Utah’s outlook this season — the Jazz had already been considered a very likely lottery team, given that they’ll lose their 2026 first-round pick if it lands outside the top eight. However, it’s a brutal turn of events for a young player whose contract will expire next summer after he didn’t come to terms with the team on a rookie scale extension before the regular season got underway.
Kessler will earn a salary of $4.88MM this season and will become a restricted free agent in 2026 as long as Utah issues him a $7.06MM qualifying offer. In that scenario, the Jazz – who project to have a significant chunk of cap room available – would carry a cap hold of roughly $14.64MM for Kessler. They could use his Bird rights to go over the cap to re-sign him to a starting salary higher than that once they use up their room.
With Kessler unavailable, Jusuf Nurkic figures to continue starting in the middle for the Jazz, while second-year big man Kyle Filipowski plays regular minutes off the bench. Veteran power forward Kevin Love has also entered the rotation since Kessler went down, averaging 15.5 minutes over the past two games.
Well, there go Utah’s already bleak hopes of making the playoffs this season.
I really feel for jazz fans. This team is not winning anything anytime soon.
Ainge thinking well maybe I should not have asked for a ship load of prospects for him.
I feel the opposite as everyone else
I think this team is now in perfect shape. Tank this year to get Boozer and a C prospect in next years draft. Then young players at every position 1-5. If everything works out in which it should (because Utah deserves the number one pick because it’s overdue) then the rebuild should be done next off season and Utah will be back to normal …winning
Yeah I don’t think they were really going to try this year … thought maybe it was more of an exploratory season where they could see what they really had with all their young talent.
Bummer though for Kessler though but luckily it’s not a lower limb injury.
Yeah it’s a bummer for sure and a loss of money for Kessler but maybe now Utah can keep him and add another C who is much younger.
I agree and think they should explore what they have and develop. George is playing nice. I still believe in Cody Williams but can tell a story about watching him playing in college. A deer in headlights
What side was it, his shooting arm or ground/pound shoulder? Either way that really sux— rebuild the rebuild.
Sucks for Kessler in multiple ways. Because of the injury he won’t get as much in RFA either.
Shoulder pain sucks man
Jazz kinda screwed his situation. Kept him in trade talks but never moved him, by all accounts didn’t seriously consider extending him, and now he has a lost season hurting his value immediately before RFA
Standard Jazz L – he should have been traded at multiple points over the last year or so. Tanking is pointless for this team because they still can’t build a roster or manage a rotation.