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MINNEAPOLIS — Less than 20 minutes after the Utah Jazz defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-125, a rookie and a future Hall of Famer crossed paths deep in Target Center.
At this moment, the contrast between Walker Kessler and Rudy Gobert was impressive. The two technically traded for each other, among many other assets. However, they share a love of his rim protection and fancy dunks, and have been consistently compared between his fans of the Jazz and his fans of the Timberwolves.
Gobert wore a flashy suit this Monday night, while Kessler wore a sweatshirt and Beats headphones wrapped around his hat. He was struggling to meet the side of his family that shared his Minnesota roots. Gobert had a deep conversation with Jazz point guard Mike Conley and welcomed Kessler warmly upon seeing him.
“Superstar,” said Gobert. “how are you?”
The two hit each other and smiled.
“Congratulations,” Gobert said.
It may have been the changing of the guard in physical form. But while jazz fans have long mourned the death of Gobert and the jazz era that preceded it, Kessler has steadily ushered in a new era. Highlight dunk here. Block shot there. One or two wow moments every night. A play in which a 21-year-old newcomer should not do business.
But at this Martin Luther King Jr. day matinee, Walker Kessler put it all together. He scored 21 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. He gave his 4 assists and blocked 2 shots. He recorded the franchise’s first rookie 20-20 game and the rookie’s first his 20-20 game since 2014. team that traded him. He did this to a team that traded him for Gobert. When Gobert left Monday’s contest early with a sore right groin, the likes of Naz Reed, Nathan Knight and Luca Garza had no answer for him.
“He and Ochai[Agbaji]have gone through the first stages of their development,” Utah head coach Will Hardy said. “They believe they belong on the floor. And that means a lot. I don’t know what’s going to happen to them. is big for them.”
I don’t want to compare a newcomer to one of the best big guys of this generation. But with Kessler, it’s getting harder and harder not to. More importantly, it’s getting harder and harder to think about what he is without closing your eyes. He’s had foul trouble, but he’s starting to figure out how to play foul-free. At times he’s depressed that he didn’t block shots or play baskets. But he’s letting go of the little things and improving his ability to move on to the next play.
He is a perfectionist who resents imperfections. But at the same time, Hardy implored Kessler to understand that NBA defense is never perfect. The league has too much talent.
But competitiveness is evident, and that’s starting to push him forward. Saturday night, Kessler sat on his room stall in his arena locker and roared. The Jazz lost to the Philadelphia 76ers by one point he had just lost the game. Joel Embiid is one of the shots NBA players have mastered, he’s one of the shots that’s almost impossible to defend, one-legged Dirk he’s nowitzki’s step back and hits the game winner I was.
“It was a great shot,” Kessler said Saturday night. “I still wish I had blocked it.”
Kessler was great against the Sixers. Honestly, he’s been doing great in the starting lineup since regular starter Kelly Olynyk went down with his sprained ankle. But Kessler was upset that he didn’t block Embiid among all the people the night Kessler tied Embiid for much of the game.
Kessler’s demeanor after a Sixers game says more about him than his impressive rim protection, athleticism, and ability to make an impact in the game for the long haul. The man wants to be great and he believes he can be great.
“I saw a lot in the OTAs before training camp,” said Conley. “On day one, a guy tried to hit a floater from the free-throw line, but Walker blocked it. You don’t usually see guys hitting that kind of shot.”
“Men were coming to me,” said Hardy. “They were saying, coach, this guy is going to get really good.”
The elephant in the room is here. How did Kessler get into the Gobert trade? And did the Jazz know what they were getting in a rookie? That’s how Kessler fell all the way to the 22nd pick in the draft when he was widely considered the second best rim protector in the draft when he was one.NBA Today Can you have a big?
These questions exist because the Wolves gave the Jazz a ransom for King Gobert. Three first-round picks. 2 pick exchanges. Kessler. Malik Beasley. Jared Vanderbilt. And Pat Beverly allowed the Jazz to flip him for Tarren Horton Tucker.
Please read that last sentence. Look at Kessler and Gobert. And ask yourself, would you trade Kessler directly for Gobert now? In a vacuum, Gobert is still the superior player. But he is 30 years old and Kessler is 21 years old.
Kessler’s offensive prowess may be one of the reasons he’s fallen so far. Essentially, Jabari Smith Jr. also had this problem, and the Auburn guard didn’t pass the ball last season. Not to Smith. It seems to no one.
So when Kessler caught a pass repeatedly on a short roll and found an open shooter in the corner against Minnesota on Monday? When Kessler hesitantly punched Kyle Anderson and went to the basket on Monday night? His ability to catch and finish traffic could be seen. soft hands? Rob threat? you could see it
As previously mentioned, the Wolves didn’t want him in the trade to Utah, so the Jazz lobbied for him to be in the deal. Minnesota had high hopes for Kessler even knowing he would be traded for Gobert.
It’s safe to say that no one thought the Kessler was this fast or this good. Due to an injury last summer, he didn’t have the offseason to work on the game. He didn’t play in summer league. He hadn’t really had a full-court practice or his 5-on-5 action until his OTA in September. A big reason the Jazz traded Bojan Bogdanovic for Kelly Olynyk. They wanted Kessler to be the center of the future. But they wanted to take him slowly. They didn’t want him to face first-unit Biggs anytime soon in his career. had.
Well, make no mistake.
Lauri Markkanen and Kessler are nearly out of control as the Utah year races toward an uncertain trade deadline. They’re definitely the building blocks of the future, and Agbaji’s athleticism, defense, and his ability to influence rookie scale contracts tend to point him in the same direction.
These are the developments the Jazz have been winning big this season, regardless of their overall record or season results. Many did not think Kessler would score 20-20 games by his mid-January. Early in his career, many did not think Kessler was in a position to dominate his single game.
(Photo by Walker Kessler: David Barding/Getty Images)
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