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What is Walker Kessler's upside?

sip said:
Stop it. He doesn't run the floor better than everyone on the roster. He is a solid athlete and that will allowing him to become a very good player in my opinion.
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Ya im gonna have to watch for this now and see if he is just blazing past colin sexton, jordan clarkson, vanderbilt, and markennan as they run to the other end of the court. im doubting he leaves those guys in his dust. Which is ok. he is humongous. he shouldn't be as fast as those guys. I mean if he had all the skills he has plus his amazing size and he was a tremendous athlete then he would have been a lottery pick no doubt about it.
 
Swuul said:
Because that is what the scouting reports from before the draft told us, and that is what the eyes seem to be keep telling. I wouldn't dare to call him "super athletic", but he sure is fast and agile (especially for his size), that much seems to be clear -> if he had some ballhandling skills and could shoot 3p halfway decently, he would have been drafted in Top 10 instead of at 22 (where an athletic shot-blocker with limited ballhandling skills would be expected to be drafted).
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The idea that he's athletic "for a 7 footer" or "especially for his size" is damning with faint praise. I get it....you look at Kessler and you assume that he might trip and fall over every step he takes and he doesn't do that. That doesn't mean he's athletic. He doesn't need to be athletic because he's so good to begin with and is a good basketball player. Someone like Damian Jones is a million times more athletic than Brook Lopez, but Lopez is also a million times better defender and basketball player. Will Hardy brought up this concept when talking about Lauri's defense. He explained how Lauri isn't as quick or athletic as a lot of wings, but he can still defend and stay with them because he's bigger and has a larger room for error.

It's a bunch of semantics, so it really doesn't matter. But when we're saying that Kessler can run the floor better than anyone on the roster....what are we even doing? If we're talking about him being athletic for a guy his size, and your expectation for a guy his size is that he can't walk and chew gum that's one thing. Me personally, I wouldn't call him athletic....but it's an understandable statement in that concept. It's a whole different thing to say he's super athletic independent of his size and more athletic than anyone on the roster.
 
Tony Jones said:
S

because he is. His ability to run the floor is elite for his size, as is his ability to move laterally. He’s a very very good athlete
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Ah, for his size. that makes more sense. I agree that he can run the floor well for his size. So when you said he runs the floor better than everyone else on the roster you actually meant everyone else on the roster his size. So he runs the floor better than Dok. Gotcha.
 
KqWIN said:
I think this is about right. I do think people tend to watch a single series/game and extrapolate too much from it, so I try not to get crown one style of basketball as the superior form....but I do think his value will vary depending on the matchup.

The things I will be watching for in his development are his strength and ability to play in the Timelord spot. Hardy hasn't trusted him to guard the Jokic types, but methinks he needs some time to be a truly unmovable post defender like Gasol/Lopez etc. I think he will get there over time. OTOH, Hardy has used him a lot off the ball in lieu of him guarding the other teams center. I don't think he can be elite in that role, you need to have a special type of athlete like Giannis/Timelord/Draymond to the best. But a lot of it comes down to awareness (which has been great for a rookie) and how the team plays around. Hardy looks like the real deal and trend setter on defense. I think he will coach Kessler up to be the best he can be even.

As a pure drop C, I think he's pretty damn good already. Don't think he would look out of place as a starter for many teams.
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He seems to be really smart and his finishing package around the rim is surprisingly mature. So I don't know if he takes major leaps and bounds from where he is... but agree he looks like a good rotation center and would be an improvement on a few teams situations.

I don't see him developing the jumper... I think he could be a good roll man without crazy verticality... he seems to catch and finish well. I don't want to sell him short but its also good to be semi-realistic. He has been a nice surprise I'll say that.
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
He seems to be really smart and his finishing package around the rim is surprisingly mature. So I don't know if he takes major leaps and bounds from where he is... but agree he looks like a good rotation center and would be an improvement on a few teams situations.

I don't see him developing the jumper... I think he could be a good roll man without crazy verticality... he seems to catch and finish well. I don't want to sell him short but its also good to be semi-realistic. He has been a nice surprise I'll say that.
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Yeah the flip side of being so mature is that it's not as clear where he can make a large development, but he's pretty damn good already. I don't think he will be a guy that's right for every matchup. We've already seen him get the quick hook against spread teams like HOU and DAL.....but considering the success rate on guys picked after the lottery he is proving to be a huge win for us.
 
KqWIN said:
Yeah the flip side of being so mature is that it's not as clear where he can make a large development, but he's pretty damn good already. I don't think he will be a guy that's right for every matchup. We've already seen him get the quick hook against spread teams like HOU and DAL.....but considering the success rate on guys picked after the lottery he is proving to be a huge win for us.
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Exactly... but then sometimes those guys that work and study (as he reportedly does) have surprising upsides. Bane is a guy I loved cause he could shoot the **** out of the ball but showed improvement with the ball in his hand. Thought he could be like a lights out shooter with some tertiary creation ability like Joe Ingles... didn't seem high upside but has worked his way into almost all-star status. Not a crazy athlete... doesn't have crazy physical tools... just built on his NBA skill so well.

I don't know what that would look like for a big like Kessler... I don't expect it... but a part of me will hope to be pleasantly surprised. If not he's a useful guy on a contending team or a solid starter if you don't have other good options.
 
I will definitely look forward to seeing more of Kessler and will watch him a bit closer. He is interesting no doubt. Cant really judge too much about him one way or the other when the sample size is 10 games and less than 15 minutes per game. I have loved what I have seen from him so far. Totally changed the entire game against atlanta.
 
Eh, I do think if they did a redraft, even with what little knowledge we have now, Kessler would be a lottery pick. That is all we can ask for at this point. I do know that if he improves his body he can unlock a lot more. He's nowhere close to being a finished product.
 
Didn’t read the whole thread, but IMO his upside is Brooke Lopez impact on offense and defense and I would be disappointed if he isn’t at least Steven Adams.
 
Where does Kessler rank athletically among today’s centers?

Jokic
Embiid
Gobert
Siakam
Adebayo
Allen
Sabonis
Ayton
Turner
Porzingis
Williams III
Brook Lopez
Clint Capela
Wendell Carter Jr
Poeltl
Vucevic
Valanciunas
Looney
Nurkic
Adams
Robinson
Zubac
Claxton
Sengun
Stewart
Plumlee
McGee
Damian Jones
Robinson-Earl

Walker Kessler
 
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