The Utah Jazz will play the rest of this season without center Walker Kessler, one of their potential-packed young projects.
Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler’s 2025-26 season has come to an end far earlier than expected.
Per Tony Jones of The Athletic, the first-round pick from 2022 will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder. That puts a sudden end to his fourth tour in Salt Lake City, which saw him average a double-double at 14.4 points and 10.8 rebounds in five appearances.
With the Jazz (3-4) engaged in a five-game road trip, Jones’ report states that Kessler left early for evaluation on the shoulder, which has been said to have been bothering him “since the season began.” Kessler last played in Friday night’s loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Since first taking the NBA floor in 2022, Kessler has established himself as a top defensive threat, having previously earned the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award as an Auburn Tiger in college. Last season also saw Kessler lead the Association with 4.6 offensive rebounds per game and matched that output in the early stages of this season to rank third among players with a minimum of five games played.
More recently, the Jazz had placed Kessler in more of a facilitator’s role: Kessler had dished out 15 assists through the first five games of the year, his most in any five-game span during his Utah career.
“We’re urging Walker to involve himself a little bit more in the offense, and we are using him as a facilitator in a bunch of moments when we’re playing off the ball,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said after Kessler had eight helpers in a preseason win over Portland last month, per Sarah Todd of Desert News. “This is part of Walker’s evolution. There’s going to be some good moments along the way, and there’s going to be some tough ones, but we are trying to put him in those situations a little bit more.”
In Utah, the 24-year-old Kessler is one of the young headliners of the Jazz’s post-Donovan Mitchell era alongside Keyonte George, Lauri Markkanen, and newly-drafted Ace Bailey, the fifth overall pick of the most recent draft. Time will tell, however, if Kessler has sung his final tune for the meandering Jazz, who have missed the playoffs in each of the last three seasons.
Gutted for Walker Kessler, who was having arguably the best season of his career with highs in points (14.4), assists (3.0), steals (1.4), and TS% (78.6%)
— Point Made Basketball (@pointmadebball) November 5, 2025
He also modernized his game by drifting towards the perimeter more, taking 1.6 3PA/g (also a career-high) and making 75% of… https://t.co/Bx8GqsALFF pic.twitter.com/YhBR4lFnBO
Has Kessler Played His Last Game For Utah?
Kessler is set to be a restricted free agent upon the expiration of his rookie contract after this season. The center had kept the focus on current affairs in the early stages of this campaign, but couldn’t help but express a little frustration at the start of the year before singing Salt Lake City’s praises.
“I’m definitely a little frustrated,” Kessler said of the situation, per Brian Preece of KSL Sports. “Regardless, you know, I love Utah. I love the fan base. I love my teammates. I love the coaches, and as long as I have a Utah Jazz jersey on, I will play winning basketball.”
The post-Kessler era begins on Wednesday night, when the Jazz play the penultimate game of the aforementioned road trip in Detroit (5 p.m. MT, KJZZ-TV). Kessler’s injury will likely lead to extended opportunities for veteran backup center Jusuf Nurkic, who arrived in a June trade with the Charlotte Hornets.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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