With just three weeks left in the 2023-24 season, the Utah Jazz will focus on player development. Most of the chatter this season has been centered around Utah’s 2023 draft class, but not much has been said about Walker Kessler’s sophomore season.
Kessler’s offensive numbers are slightly down from his rookie campaign, but he hasn’t missed a beat on the defensive side. He’s still among the best-shot blockers and ranks second in the league, averaging 2.6 blocks a game. It’s an impressive accomplishment, considering he only averages 23.5 minutes per contest.
So, is Kessler’s defensive prowess enough to make him Utah’s future starting center? How he’s trending in his sophomore season was the topic of discussion when ESPN NBA insider Tim MacMahon joined The Drive with Spence Checketts on ESPN 700.
“He hasn’t taken the step that you’d hope after a really, really, really good rookie year, and I would still buy Walker Kessler's stock in terms of him being a high-quality center in the NBA," MacMahon said.
Buying stock on Kessler can be a mixed bag. There’s no question Kessler can be a starter at the NBA level, but what about on a championship contender? That will be the question the Jazz front office will be asking moving forward, and according to MacMahon, some parts of Kessler’s game need cleaning up.
“You can not be a non-shooting 7-footer in today's NBA and a poor screener and be a factor on a good team,” MacMahon said. “He has to master the art and science of screening. That should be the primary focus this offseason. I don’t need to preach the value of the screen in Salt Lake City. The screen was the most popular thing in Utah for the last six or seven years of [Rudy] Gobert’s career.”
There’s certainly a lot that Kessler does well on the court, but helping his teammates out in offensive half-court sets hasn’t been one of them. Kessler averages 2.2 screen assists per game and generates only 5.2 points per game of screens that he sets. Putting that in perspective, Gobert is second in the league at 11.7 points per game generated off of screens and 4.9 screen assists per game. Kessler's numbers don't cut it for a player who can't generate his offense.
Kessler also doesn’t space the floor, has trouble knocking down any shot outside five feet, and is a poor free-throw shooter. These were the problems that contributed to Kessler being removed from the starting lineup.
The current starting center is rookie Taylor Hendricks. It’s too early in his development to see if that will hold water down the road, but he offers much more than Kessler on offense and fits much better in today's game of positionless basketball.
Hendricks can be plugged into the three, four, or five position and has the ceiling of developing into an elite shotmaker. However, his biggest attribute could be his ability to guard the opponent's best player. Jazz head coach Will Hardy has given him the toughest assignments on defense, and thus far, the results have been good.
Hendricks provides the length and foot speed to make life difficult for elite NBA wings. Guarding wings has been Utah’s Achilles heel since the Donovan Mitchell era. If Hendricks can keep improving in that area, it will be difficult for Kessler to be reinserted back into the starting lineup.
That said, Kessler will always have a spot in the rotation due to his presence in the paint on defense. Whether that’s enough to parlay into a starting job will hinge on improving on offense during the offseason.
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