jschligs wrote:Hard pass on Kessler. Can't switch (not that we'd ask him to), 60% FT shooter, not a good mid-range and beyond shooter, easily gets it knocked out of his hands in the post, not great at passing out of the post. I'd much rather take a flier on some of the other guys that will likely be available.
I don't particularly want Kessler, but the argument in favor would be something like (and I'm going to make it as rosy as possible here):
1. His defensive numbers this year were pretty much unprecedented. The only guys that racked up blocks and steals at the rates that he did at his age are your Anthony Davis/Joel Embiid types. And he did that while playing the same type of role that we seemingly want our C to do.
2. He actually moves pretty well considering his size. I don't think switching him onto guards would be ideal by any means, but I think people overestimate the lack of switchability with him. He generally survived pretty well when he did switch at Auburn but certainly had moments where guys were able to blow by.
3. On the Adidas AAU circuit, he shot around 40% from 3 (granted it was only like 20-25 three point attempts). And it's often said that three point attempts is a better barometer for a player's shooting ability than the actual percentages in college and Kessler/his coach were not shy about letting him take 3's (my personal opinion: his shot looks like crap and his free throws are so much worse than the percentages; I don't think there's really any baseline to work with in terms of his shooting, but that's just me).
4. He's a rare college player that actually boxes out and boxes out well; could easily see him being one of those guys like Brook that doesn't necessarily get a lot of rebounds but improves your team rebounding a lot.
5. He just dunks everything, which is why his percentages inside are crazy high. He's big and long enough that he's able to just dunk the ball very quickly/go up for lobs for quickly with minimal effort.
My personal opinion: The offensive fit would be rough for sure, though I don't buy the notion that shooting is an absolute requirement to play with Giannis. I'd rather take my chances on a wing at #24. But if we're going to stick with the drop defense (which seems likely), I think he makes a lot of sense as he could learn from Brook for a year (while helping to manage Brook's load as well) and potentially replace him in the starting lineup the following year.
