From a supporting role in the trade to becoming a key player in reconstruction, he is obviously the best defensive player in the NCAA, why did he fall to the 22nd pick? Share the story of Walker Kessler with you.
The NBA is ushering in the All-Star Week. This season’s rookie matchup has a completely different game style from the past. The two-team drafting mode has been canceled, and these rookies who have entered the league for one to two years, as well as some players from the development league, are divided into two groups. The four teams will decide the outcome in a mini-cup match with an elimination system. The coach of the team is to find a star who has played in the NBA in the past.
Among them, the D-Will team led by former NBA player Deron Williams has a lot of popularity.
The reason is also very simple. This year’s All-Star Game was held in Salt Lake City, USA, and Williams was once a local superstar, so he naturally attracted the attention of many local fans.
More importantly, the D-Will team has Utah Jazz’s new hope in the restricted area, Walker Kessler.
“I’m a little choked up.”
“When the anchor called my name, the fans all over Salt Lake City cheered for me.”
“I don’t think you’ll find a more passionate group of fans than this group.”
Although the D-Will team was eliminated in the first round and Kessler only scored two points, one rebound and two blocks, he was still flattered by the warm reception he received.
Kessler’s ups and downs in his development from high school to high school, to being unrecognized as a freshman in college, from being brilliant after transferring to being considered “insufficient talent” in the draft, Kessler’s ups and downs, I’m afraid even him It’s hard to predict.
ups and downs career path
In high school, Kessler was rated by the media as a five-star high school student in the United States and a top five center forward in the United States with his height of 6 feet 11 inches (about 210 centimeters) and his excellent movement and vertical jumping ability. Invited by many well-known universities in the United States, Kessler set his sights on the post-university world very early on.
He’s the guy who’s going to step into the NBA.
“I want to go to the NBA.”
“I think I have a chance to do it.”
“Whether I’m in college for a year or four, I’m going to use that time to get better.”
In the end, Kessler joined the University of North Carolina, but in his freshman season, his knee injury and the repeated isolation of the epidemic made him unable to find his status on the court, and it was difficult for him to gain the trust of the coaching staff. Restricted, but also the idea of transferring schools.
“He’s an elite rim protector.”
“In his sophomore season, he produced more than four blocks per game.”
“Having good mobility makes him not just a statue in the box.”
“Facing a pick-and-roll with a player who can make up to the outside, while also being able to recover quickly and flank attackers in the paint.”
Kessler, who transferred to Auburn University, gained the trust of the coach, which made him like a tiger. He averaged 11.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.6 blocks, and 1.1 steals in his sophomore year. Best Defensive Player Award. The draft report pointed out that his intuition for blocking offenses is very terrifying, and his ability to switch defenses also makes him quite suitable for today’s defensive rotation. If he strengthens his defensive experience, he has a chance to become a good defensive center.
“On average, he takes more than one three-point shot per game, but his shooting percentage is only 20%. His outside ability needs to be strengthened.”
“It’s also reflected in his free-throw percentage of less than 60 percent.”
“When the dribble cuts, the receiving point is too high, so he is easy to be intercepted.”
“Although he can make up for the outside line, his lateral movement speed is slow, making him easy to be thrown away by shorter players when changing positions.”
But compared to his excellent defense, Kessler’s poor offensive ability is also obvious. He lacks outside and ball-handling ability, and relies on two-wave tip-ups and defenders’ passes, which makes him pass the ball out of the penalty area on the offensive end. Become very passive at times, but this is not in line with the characteristics of today’s penalty area players.
So in short, Kessler’s current skill set gives him a chance to be a modern-day backup defensive center, but the short version of offense and lateral movement gets him so far.
“It was one of the toughest moments of my career.”
“Everything is not going well, I don’t think I’ve ever played so badly in my life.”
“But this failure is an important growth for me.”
“It taught me that one game doesn’t define who you are.”
“Whether you can become more mature from it is the key to growth.”
To make matters worse, Kessler’s poor performance in Auburn University’s game against Miami University also exposed the problems written in the scouting report to the sun, which seriously affected his draft value. Although Kessler had an impact It was estimated in the middle of the draft, but in the end it fell to the 22nd pick before being selected by the Grizzlies, and was immediately traded to the Timberwolves by the team.
Not long after Kessler finished joining the press conference, the Timberwolves traded him and a large amount of assets to Utah in exchange for Rudy Gobert, the Jazz’s leading center and three-time league’s best defensive player.