Walker Kessler Should No Longer Play Until KO is Traded

[LogGrad98]

Gay plays his best when making season debuts or coming back from injury... then its all downhill from there.

So you are saying we should play him for 3 games, kick him out for 4-6 games with an "injury" then play him 3 games again, timing it so he is "returning from injury" right when we need him to have a big game in the playoffs. I can get behind that.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

It's freaking awesome is what it is. The kid is solid already and the potential to pick up the scoring he had in college is tantalizing. In 4-6 years he will be a force, solid starter, maybe more. Loved having him start. I would start him over Vando personally, give us a 3 7-footer line-up, 4-out offense, with rim protection. That's tough.

He's also very poised and just calm. I still think there is a limit on his ceiling/upside but love what I've seen so far. If he was a better version of Poeltl that would be amazing. He seems to be about all the right things.

 

[LogGrad98]

He's also very poised and just calm. I still think there is a limit on his ceiling/upside but love what I've seen so far. If he was a better version of Poeltl that would be amazing. He seems to be about all the right things.

There probably is a limit on his upside, but really who knows? Who would have EVER imagined Lopez as a front-runner for DPOY? Kessler has shown an ability to get shots off quickly and accurately at the rim, with some little layups and small hook shots. And in college he was taking 3's, not many but he has good form. Once he gets comfortable I could see him adding a mid-range wrinkle to his game. Could surprise all of us. Hell he has surprised us so far. We'll see. Either way, it is fun to watch right now.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

He's also very poised and just calm. I still think there is a limit on his ceiling/upside but love what I've seen so far. If he was a better version of Poeltl that would be amazing. He seems to be about all the right things.

I totally saw the Poetl comps before the season started, but I dont really see them anymore. Has he even attempted a baby hook all season?

He really is a more finesse/smaller version of Rudy. Not trying to say he is soft, there's just less dunk finishing and more touch finishes, but still off the same kind of looks Gobert got. Will there be any attempt to ever put him in the post? Will he ever take a jumper? I have no idea, but it's still kind of wild to me they never try these things with him.

 

[LogGrad98]

I totally saw the Poetl comps before the season started, but I dont really see them anymore. Has he even attempted a baby hook all season?

He really is a more finesse/smaller version of Rudy. Not trying to say he is soft, there's just less dunk finishing and more touch finishes, but still off the same kind of looks Gobert got.

Yeah but Gobert always looked clunky with those short shots and layups, even put-backs that weren't dunks looked awkward and stiff. Kessler is way more fluid than Rudy in that regard. I see that as a good sign, he feels more comfortable with the ball in his hands under the basket.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Yeah but Gobert always looked clunky with those short shots and layups, even put-backs that weren't dunks looked awkward and stiff. Kessler is way more fluid than Rudy in that regard. I see that as a good sign, he feels more comfortable with the ball in his hands under the basket.

Well yeah, you trade all time length for something that is more fluid, but I still think Gobert had underrated fluidity on his layups and rim rolls. Gobert had some super awkward moments and I feel like those standout in people's minds more than all the stuff he did really well with the ball.

I still feel like we havent gotten a great sample size of Walker in traffic and with tougher finishes where he really has to go through/over people (but that's also a testament to Walker having great positioning IQ of being able to put himself in easy situations plus we have great spacing). We've kind of decided that Walker has infallible hands, but I do feel like he has yet to be really tested. This is probably nitpicky, but w/e. Walker has been very exciting and it will be cool to see how far he can take his playstyle of if he is able to expand it.

If Gobert did this in the clutch people would have freaked out tho, but for some reason we glance over it with Walker and accept that he has great hands: https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CF...g=1&title=Kessler Lost Ball Turnover (P1.T16)

 

[LogGrad98]

Well yeah, you trade all time length for something that is more fluid, but I still think Gobert had underrated fluidity on his layups and rim rolls. Gobert had some super awkward moments and I feel like those standout in people's minds more than all the stuff he did really well with the ball.

I still feel like we havent gotten a great sample size of Walker in traffic and with tougher finishes where he really has to go through/over people (but that's also a testament to Walker having great positioning IQ of being able to put himself in easy situations plus we have great spacing). We've kind of decided that Walker has infallible hands, but I do feel like he has yet to be really tested. This is probably nitpicky, but w/e. Walker has been very exciting and it will be cool to see how far he can take his playstyle of if he is able to expand it.

If Gobert did this in the clutch people would have freaked out tho, but for some reason we glance over it with Walker and accept that he has great hands: https://www.nba.com/stats/events?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=601&GameID=0022200372&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=Kessler Lost Ball Turnover (P1.T16)

I wasn't slighting Gobert, I want him back on this team and would sacrifice Kessler in a heartbeat if we could do that. I was just noting that as a rookie Kessler is already smoother with the ball on offense than Gobert is now after 9 years in the NBA. That is just a fact.

 

[HermanG]

It's freaking awesome is what it is. The kid is solid already and the potential to pick up the scoring he had in college is tantalizing. In 4-6 years he will be a force, solid starter, maybe more. Loved having him start. I would start him over Vando personally, give us a 3 7-footer line-up, 4-out offense, with rim protection. That's tough.

While I dont think KO is the answer between Lauri and Kessler, I do like the idea that if Lauri develops his defense and aggressiveness while Kessler develops his scoring and physicality, we might end up having two solid 7" bigs who can defend, block, average double figures in boards and score around or even well above the 20 point mark.

Thats a damn good looking prospect in the first year of a rebuild. And they are not clogging up our cap space in a while, even though Lauri might get a pretty nice bag if he keeps this up.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

This was from Andy Larsen's triple team column after the win, for some insight as to why Walker isnt getting as many minutes as some here think:

So what’s keeping Kessler from permanent starter status? I think he only needs to evolve his game just a little bit. Olynyk is just better offensively, even though I think the gulf is wider between Kessler’s defense and Olynyk’s defense, and the Jazz are winning games just on the back of their offense, so it makes some sense to stay with the status quo.

I asked both Walker and Hardy what was one thing Kessler could do to make that jump into being a consistent starter. Hardy said that the biggest thing is that Kessler is a poor screener right now, drawing all sorts of offensive fouls while not doing a whole lot to free up his man. He’s working on it every day in practice, though.

Kessler, meanwhile, said that he wanted to become a more switchable player defensively. I agree with that, but think that matters most in the playoffs — you can win a lot of regular season games by just protecting the rim like Kessler does.

 

[sip]

Honestly at this point would any of you trade Kessler for Rudy straight up? This kid is going to be really really good. If he were starting he would be right there in the ROY race.

 

[Elizah Huge]

Honestly at this point would any of you trade Kessler for Rudy straight up? This kid is going to be really really good. If he were starting he would be right there in the ROY race.

I pondered this earlier this morning. It is an interesting discussion when you take into account age and contracts.

 

[HermanG]

Honestly at this point would any of you trade Kessler for Rudy straight up? This kid is going to be really really good. If he were starting he would be right there in the ROY race.

I wouldn't, because I dont think our best championship window is within the next 2 years. I think its more like 3-5 years from now. If it was now, then of course I would.

I think its a gimmie if you think about it that way.