BKN has their own 25 and 26 now:
Hyper Risky Move (HRM)
- Thread starter whatthe
- Start date
BKN has their own 25 and 26 now:
The Jazz had the worst defense in the NBA last year. Why are we that worried about it being so good that the Jazz will win games?
I'd rather get Jalen Green.
Handlogten's Heros
Well-Known Member
2019 Award Winner
20-21 Award Winner
2022 Award Winner
2023 Award Winner
2024 Award Winner
2025 Award Winner
2025 Prediction Contest Winner
I think teams will likely take harder stances than they have before with these guys. It might be a bit of an overcorrection.
If Kessler starts that changes. The defense was better with the 2nd unit. It is an overreaction or a overworry on my part but Kessler is dangerous to the tank.
Last edited:
Kessler probably isnt playing 30 MPG even if he starts. And he has to get dramatically better than he showed last year. I think some posters/fans are still under this impression that he has a Gobert like effect and I think he's at least two years away from having the kind of impact that warrants being a top 15 defense just from him playing 30 mpg.
And Walker, especially given the fact we dont have a veteran PNR PG like Conley anymore, is a negative on offense until Sexton/Keyonte develop some sort of chemistry with him that allows them to take advantage of his vertical spacing ability (which honestly is fairly poor for his archetype)
There's a large middle ground between Kessler being Gobert and being what he was last year. Simply playing at his rookie year level for close to 30 MPG would have a large impact on the team. I also totally reject this notion that he needs Mike Conley because in his rookie year he played his best ball once Conley was gone. Kessler is more than capable of being a good C and his skillset would offer the most exponential gains for this team.
If he plays well, he's not Gobert that can take a terrible team into a top 5 defense. But even if he turns us into the 20th ranked defense instead of 30th....That is a massive amount of wins.
If he plays well, he's not Gobert that can take a terrible team into a top 5 defense. But even if he turns us into the 20th ranked defense instead of 30th....That is a massive amount of wins.
It’s all relative. The Jazz with WK have a vastly higher defensive floor (even if it’s low) than without him.
It is very possible that Ainge simply cannot make this move. As is, the owner is against the all-out tank because it would be hurting the attendance and merchandise sales. The last two years the Jazz were doing very, very well in that department despite their not-so-great record and the weird competing-until-the trading-deadline strategy. This is the main reasons why very few teams resort to the shameless multi-year tanking until they find great prospects.
Park Bites
Well-Known Member
A big HRM would be to go after Jamal Murray. He has fallen out of favor in Denver. He sucked in the Olympics.
I don't advocate it but it would be aHRM
Even if playing him more would turn the 18th-ranked Jazz offense into, say the 23th? Because Kessler consistently had the lowest offensive ranking out of all non-rookies ( and even rookies bypassed him offensively after the All-Star break).
The reason why Kessler played less last year was not because of the difference in his defense but, mostly, because he was horrible offensively.
If you’re bringing up the offense/defense tradeoff you are making the case for Walker Kessler. The Jazz have been better with on the court both of his years. In his rookie year, which is not an unreasonable expectation, he was second in raw on/off to Lauri out of all rotation players. Just focusing on the minutes last year, we were significantly better with only Kessler on the court compared to only Collins, who would theoretically be the one whose minutes would be taken.
Kessler has won this tradeoff and did so massively in his first year.
Last edited: