Walker Kessler

During Year 3, Kessler set career highs across the board in per-game stats, averaging 11.1 points, 12.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 3.0 stocks on 66.3 percent shooting in 30.0 minutes a night. However, the 2022 No. 22 overall pick appeared in a career-low 58 contests. He also shot only 52 percent from the free-throw line (2.6 tries per game) and 17.6 percent from deep (34 total attempts). Despite limited playing time to start his career, Kessler has always been a standout performer in the typical big-man categories (REBs, BLKs, FG%), but his upside has been limited due to his lack of production elsewhere. With that said, it's unclear if Kessler has even scratched the surface of his potential, as he's yet to have a consistent role for an entire season. Occam's razor suggests that Kessler is more effective when deployed in a matchup-based rotational role; however, Utah has made questionable rotation decisions over the last three seasons, as the Jazz appeared to be tanking. The frontcourt lost John Collins and a few reserve options this offseason but added Ace Bailey, Jusuf Nurkic, Georges Niang and Kevin Love to a group that returns Kessler, Lauri Markkanen, Kyle Filipowski, Brice Sensabaugh and Cody Williams. After starting all 58 of his appearances last season, Kessler is projected to be the starting center yet again, but he could be played off the court when opposing teams go small, and Utah has plenty of depth behind him, so he may not need to play 30-plus minutes a night. When healthy, Kessler has a top-100 floor, but he's yet to crack the top 75 in eight-category leagues, and it's difficult to envision him working his way into the top 50 unless he improves from the charity stripe. Read Past Outlooks