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What is Walker Kessler's upside?

OK, here's the big question. Who is the better player 3 years from now: James Wiseman or Kessler?
Kessler is literally the better player right now, but that's not saying too much.

Wiseman is a disaster at the NBA level.
 
Which brings up the point: if the Jazz truly view Kessler as the C of the future, why are we holding onto Vando?
I'm not opposed to trading Vando but just because they may view Kessler as the future doesn't mean they need to trade Vandy. Kessler is far from a finished product and I would be very surprised if he doesn't develop a solid outside shot in the near future.
 
Which brings up the point: if the Jazz truly view Kessler as the C of the future, why are we holding onto Vando?
I'm starting to think KO and Vando will not be long term pieces for this team. Vando's trade value could be extremely high at this point but I've also noticed Hardy seems to be lowering his minutes a tiny bit too compared to the other starters. Ofc they could still stay as long term bench pieces. They will both have contracts that expire in the next year and a half too.

Frontcourt athleticism/shooting/rebounding and adding a big wing with ball skills appear to be the biggest immediate needs for this team. Simone is really our only 6'-8" wing on the roster and obviously Hardy doesn't trust to give him consistent minutes despite the fact he can shoot. We just didn't have big wings to deal with Klay, Green esp with THT having an off night. NAW is more of a break glass type player and he did provide energy in the 1st half last night. This team could be so much more dangerous if they added a big wing such as Amen or Anthony Black who has PG skills.

The guards are fine but it's also very possible that Mike, JC, Beas, and Sexton are all gone by the time this team is a contender again due to age, contract, fit, etc. Looking at the Milwuakee model they obviously had the frontcourt/wings in place and then got their main guard in Jrue. Same thing in Boston where they had the big wings/athletic frontcourt player and then went out and added the guards this past year.
 
The only thing I wish when watching Kessler is that he was less finesse and more powerful. There are times when the ball gets stripped from him when I think he could get an and one or the ball gets stripped during rebounds.

I guess you have to take the bad with the good. He has such soft hands that he catches just about everything, but his grip is also soft. I would like to see more power dunks and ripping down the rebounds.
 
Which brings up the point: if the Jazz truly view Kessler as the C of the future, why are we holding onto Vando?
Good question.

In theory, Vando has the athleticism to defend lots of different player types as long as they are not built heavy. In practice he still gets burned a lot.

If Vando can up his defensive technique and fundamentals, he can defend better against leaner and faster wings and he can be solid after switches as well. Modern NBA loves lean tall wings, and taller guards as well.

Sort of like a modern version of Rodman type.. athletic, great hustler, natural rebounder... just needs to add the defense. He has the physical tools.

I think Kessler is still not redundant. You need versatility. You need to account for true bigs as well.

They just cannot be on the court together until one or both of them up their outside shooting and/or playmaking.
 
Which brings up the point: if the Jazz truly view Kessler as the C of the future, why are we holding onto Vando?
Bingo.

We really have to go all-in on Kessler at this point. Vando brings a few things to the table, but then he flips the whole ****ing table over by forgetting to box out his man and fouling a 3pt shooter five seconds later.

They both cause the same, typical non-shooter problems by clogging up the paint, but Kessler at least can catch the ball in traffic, finish alley-oops, block shots and generally eat space on defense. Vando just... I dunno. He looks energetic, I guess.

I'm not sure Kessler is the starting C of the future, but I'm sure as hell Vando ain't it.
 
Why in the world didn't we put Kessler in at the end of the Suns game. Ayton was killing us on O rebounds and scoring inside.
Good question. Kessler was 100% our best matchup on Ayton. I would love to hear Hardy defend this decission.
 
Why in the world didn't we put Kessler in at the end of the Suns game. Ayton was killing us on O rebounds and scoring inside.
He was getting pushed around the rim. Ayton was also like this when he was a rookie. He will get better in time
 
I read through the comments and I legit re-read the top of the thread to make sure the subject was Walker Kessler

Tony, where to start…

1) Any chance you have an alt on this board who’s gone by the handle PGAB for Point Guard Alec Burks? I ask because you seem to have deleted some of your comments in this thread much like the aforementioned has been known to do after he whiffs on 98.37% of his draft prospect predictions.

2) I’m not sure of your exact age but generally speaking, it is our mid-40’s when our eyesight starts to crumble. It might be time to see an optometrist. Just sayin’.

3) Jada Fire or Diamond Jackson? Go!
 
Tony, where to start…

1) Any chance you have an alt on this board who’s gone by the handle PGAB for Point Guard Alec Burks? I ask because you seem to have deleted some of your comments in this thread much like the aforementioned has been known to do after he whiffs on 98.37% of his draft prospect predictions.

2) I’m not sure of your exact age but generally speaking, it is our mid-40’s when our eyesight starts to crumble. It might be time to see an optometrist. Just sayin’.

3) Jada Fire or Diamond Jackson? Go!
That is a trip that most of his comments are now gone. He must have not liked the fact that some of us didn't take his opinion as gospel since he is a known sports writer.
 
Why in the world didn't we put Kessler in at the end of the Suns game. Ayton was killing us on O rebounds and scoring inside.

Because coaches are notoriously overly rigid with rotations. Its dumb.


Sent from my iPad using JazzFanz mobile app
 
That is a trip that most of his comments are now gone. He must have not liked the fact that some of us didn't take his opinion as gospel since he is a known sports writer.
It's pretty well known this forum can get pretty toxic.

I deleted my first account here about 15 years ago when it just got too depressing during the AK47/Boozer era.

Here I am again during the Ainge era but some of the commenters are just as toxic. You would think a mod would step in at some point to clean up some of this mess. It's pretty bad when the reddit board is classier than JF.
 
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