RealGM

I say yes.

He is so good at rolling to the basket and lobs....skilled at defense 2 blocks a game while playing only 18 min Shoots 73%.

Dude will be an all star.

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4433136/walker-kessler

Kessler is in the top 4 underated rookies. go to the 6:56 mark.



minnesota really messup up trading a Kings Ransom for Gobert.......Kessler is as good.....so much better offensively.

Hoops Addict wrote:I say yes.

He is so good at rolling to the basket and lobs....skilled at defense 2 blocks a game while playing only 18 min Shoots 73%.

Dude will be an all star.

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4433136/walker-kessler

He might.

When do you see that happening?

Kessler is not better than Gobert offensively right now. At this point, he gets his points exactly like Gobert does which is through put-backs from offensive rebounds and by being set up by his teammates for easy dunks. And just like Gobert, he doesn't even try to score any other way and is not aggressive on offense. Whenever he gets the ball, he gets rid of it and doesn't even try to attack the basket.

Having said that, at this point of his career, what I wrote above is not a negative. He's trying to make as few mistakes as possible, which allows him to be on the floor and get more playing time by not trying to do too much and limiting his mistakes. He is further ahead than Gobert was in his rookie season.

Kessler did show in college he has more offensive game than he has shown in the NBA and that he has some range. If he ends up like Gobert offensively I will be disappointed, but that is a long way down the road. I'd like to see more offensive moves from him as time goes on but I don't expect anything this season. But if he doesn't show improvement as seasons pass, that would be disappointing.

Inigo Montoya wrote:Kessler is not better than Gobert offensively right now. At this point, he gets his points exactly like Gobert does which is through put-backs from offensive rebounds and by being set up by his teammates for easy dunks. And just like Gobert, he doesn't even try to score any other way and is not aggressive on offense. Whenever he gets the ball, he gets rid of it and doesn't even try to attack the basket.

Having said that, at this point of his career, what I wrote above is not a negative. He's trying to make as few mistakes as possible, which allows him to be on the floor and get more playing time by not trying to do too much and limiting his mistakes. He is further ahead than Gobert was in his rookie season.

Kessler did show in college he has more offensive game than he has shown in the NBA and that he has some range. If he ends up like Gobert offensively I will be disappointed, but that is a long way down the road. I'd like to see more offensive moves from him as time goes on but I don't expect anything this season. But if he doesn't show improvement as seasons pass, that would be disappointing.

I’m going to disagree, his foot movement in the post is better than Gobert currently. I am seeing some moves Gobert was really never able to execute. I also see his work on the hook shot, something else Gobert was never really able to execute.

AingesBurner wrote:I’m going to disagree, his foot movement in the post is better than Gobert currently. I am seeing some moves Gobert was really never able to execute. I also see his work on the hook shot, something else Gobert was never really able to execute.

Can you show me one basket Kessler made so far that involved him making an offensive move on a defender?

I also can't really judge his foot movement in the post because I haven't seen him try to score on anyone.

I doubt it. He has a long way to go to be considered All Star-level.

Inigo Montoya wrote:Kessler is not better than Gobert offensively right now.

rediculous. disagree.

Kessler can reverse layup and observably better offensively.

Hoops Addict wrote:

Inigo Montoya wrote:Kessler is not better than Gobert offensively right now.

rediculous. disagree.

Kessler can reverse layup and observably better offensively.

This reverse layup thing (which I like) is not really making a difference. Instead of a reverse layup, Gobert just chooses to dunk it with one hand or something and ends up with the same results--it's like a personal preference almost. It's not like Kessler is getting the ball, does a bunch of fakes and fancy footwork and then ends with a reverse layup. He's scoring the same way Gobert does, which is through grabbing offensive boards, tip-ins, and by being set up by his teammates for easy dunks and alley-hoops.

A friendly challenge: Show me one basket Kessler made so far that involved him beating a defender 1-1 by making an offensive move.

Point being--I can't say one is better offensively than the other when neither of them create any offense and when both of them are totally dependent on their teammates to set them up for open dunks and alley-hoops.

The question is about rookie allstar? sure.

Technically he already is since he's averaging more blocks than Gobert, huh?

FranchisePlayer wrote:Technically he already is since he's averaging more blocks than Gobert, huh?

Rudy's block numbers are a direct result of players deciding not to test him. They see Rudy underneath and decide to pull the ball back out or pass. Rudy can't block shots that other players won't take.

If Kessler continues to block shots like this, he may run into the same thing, but right now nobody is afraid to test him, so he's getting a lot more opportunities to block shots than Rudy is getting.

Inigo Montoya wrote:

Hoops Addict wrote:

Inigo Montoya wrote:Kessler is not better than Gobert offensively right now.

rediculous. disagree.

Kessler can reverse layup and observably better offensively.

This reverse layup thing (which I like) is not really making a difference. Instead of a reverse layup, Gobert just chooses to dunk it with one hand or something and ends up with the same results--it's like a personal preference almost. It's not like Kessler is getting the ball, does a bunch of fakes and fancy footwork and then ends with a reverse layup. He's scoring the same way Gobert does, which is through grabbing offensive boards, tip-ins, and by being set up by his teammates for easy dunks and alley-hoops.

A friendly challenge: Show me one basket Kessler made so far that involved him beating a defender 1-1 by making an offensive move.

Point being--I can't say one is better offensively than the other when neither of them create any offense and when both of them are totally dependent on their teammates to set them up for open dunks and alley-hoops.

Loving what I see from Kessler, but still agree 100% with Inigo here. Pretending that Walker is anywhere near Rudy Gobert on D or O is just homer-glasses. He is further ahead than Rudy was as a rookie, which is awesome! Still, pretending he's sniffing a four-time All-NBA Team member, six-time All-Defensive First Team member, three-time NBA All-Star, three-time DPOY, is silly. It's ok to be excited about Kessler without diminishing the greatest center in Jazz history. Just because Rudy doesn't have a jump shot or great post moves doesn't mean he wasn't a very good offensive player for Utah. His efficiency, rebounding, screen assists, lob threat, etc., made him extremely useful. Did you know Rudy Gobert had the best offensive rating in the NBA in 2021-22, with a 137.4 rating???

With that said, Kessler is on his way to a long and very solid NBA career, IMO. I'm thrilled with him and hope he gets more minutes as the season progresses. Will he be an All Star? I think he could be boarder-line, maybe even make one as an injury replacement player, or something like that. That's not a knock on him at all, it's actually a huge compliment. I just see that Rudy only barely made the team 3 times, despite being the greatest "traditional big" in the world, so the likeliness that Walker can make it, seems slim.

Cappy_Smurf wrote:

FranchisePlayer wrote:Technically he already is since he's averaging more blocks than Gobert, huh?

Rudy's block numbers are a direct result of players deciding not to test him. They see Rudy underneath and decide to pull the ball back out or pass. Rudy can't block shots that other players won't take.

If Kessler continues to block shots like this, he may run into the same thing, but right now nobody is afraid to test him, so he's getting a lot more opportunities to block shots than Rudy is getting.

100%

I've seen several videos on the Gobert trade that mention that this season players shoot 5% worse against Gobert, and 10% worse against Kessler. I haven't looked these stats up myself but if anyone is interested I could probably find those videos. Point being, it's not only about the blocks.



As for Gobert's offense, I never found it impressive exactly because what we see from Kessler, a rookie. If you are 100% dependent on other players to set you up and all you do is finishing open dunks/layups and from offensive rebounds, you'll have a very high FG%. But I don't find it to be very impressive because we can see that a rookie can do it. That's why I also don't think I can say that one of them is better than the other offensively at this point, as they are both completely dependent on their teammates to set them up and create offense for them.

Do I think Kessler has the potential to be a better offensive player than Gobert? Absolutely, because:

1. I think he has softer hands and a better touch around the basket.
2. He has shown in college he can shoot it a little and that he has some range and as he develops I have hope we'll see it in an NBA setting
3. Gobert is 30 years old and has been in the league for 9 seasons (now in his 10th) and he has the exact offensive game and skills now that he had when he entered the league. He has shown zero improvement in that area and has not developed even one offensive move that he can use in 1-1 situation. Not even a baby-hook. He can't score 1-1 and teams can get away with putting guards on him and he still isn't able to score

Kessler is 21 years old and a rookie. I have hope he can develop at least one offensive move going forward, if not more. I have hope he'll show he's able to shoot it a little bit. If he develops even one offensive move, he'll be a better offensive player than Gobert. If seasons pass and he'll show zero improvement on that end of the floor like Gobert did, I'll be disappointed and I will call him out on it (not that he'll mind). But right now, I don't mind he doesn't try to do anything other than finishing open dunks.

Congrats to Walker, who was named All NBA Rookie 1st team. Well-deserved. Best FG% of ALL TIME for a rookie, 4th in the league in blocks per game (in only 23 mpg), 9.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg. What a great season! Next year I'm looking to see a solid increase in free throw %, amongst other steps forward.

I want to see some offensive moves, but not not be offended by them like I was with Gobert's.

On a serious note, I'd like to see Kessler show some offensive game next season, be it a mid-range shot, a baby hook, some fakes, maybe shoot more 3s, something. I really liked what he showed in his first season overall, but if he'll show no improvement like Gobert, it would be frustrating.

Kessler has a long ways to go before he would be considered an All Star, mainly on the offensive end.

This article in January shows two clips of his very limited outside shooting (a smooth 18 footer) as well as a hook shot, but show that he has the potential to have that game. Apparently, Kessler considered himself a stretch big in HS, but only shot 11/54 from 3pt in college.
https://kslsports.com/497487/kessler-joins-ksl-sports-zone/

Kessler shot three 3 pt shots this season after the article, and hit one of them. His shot is slow, but looks promising. If the league wasn't so hung up on either 3pt or rim shots or nothing, I think that he could potentially become an effective mid-range shooter. Maybe he still will.

By comparison, Gobert took a total of three 3 pt shots in his first 7 years, missing all of them. The past three years he has taken nearly 4 per season, but still has yet to make one (0/14 for career). I'm confident Kessler will have a more well rounded offensive game than Gobert, we'll just have to see to what extent and how often he is given the opportunity to do it. His career success and the Jazz success are dependent on it.

Edit: This article is also about mid-season as Kessler hadn't attempted any 3s yet. It does show in the 2nd video clip several hook shot attempts. He has a long ways to go offensively, but looks to have much more versatility potential than Gobert on that end of the floor. https://basketball.realgm.com/analysis/270123/The-Very-Different-Vibes-Surrounding-Walker-Kessler-Rudy-Gobert

Inigo Montoya wrote:I want to see some offensive moves, but not not be offended by them like I was with Gobert's.

On a serious note, I'd like to see Kessler show some offensive game next season, be it a mid-range shot, a baby hook, some fakes, maybe shoot more 3s, something. I really liked what he showed in his first season overall, but if he'll show no improvement like Gobert, it would be frustrating.

Kessler has clearly better hands and likely better footwork than Gobert. His shooting form seems decent, but can be improved, and obviously practiced to better consistency. The first priority improvement has to be from the FT line, because he will spend a lot of time there, and it could be the decisive factor for staying on the court for big playoff moments.

He is such a threat on the offensive glass that I wouldn't want to see him spacing in the corner. He should be involved in a lot of pick'n'rolls, so having effective post moves or just a reliable 10-foot shot over mismatches would help, but I don't care to see static post-ups against centers, or really him taking any dribbles in traffic. The ability to catch high passes on the move and finish around the rim while keeping the ball high is his offensive superpower, so just keep exploiting that for great efficiency as much as you can.