Who is Walker Kessler: Utah Jazz's blocking machine emerging as an NBA Draft steal

Walker Kessler is starting to catch the attention of basketball fans and analysts with his play for the Utah Jazz. The 21-year-old rookie has easily become one of the NBA’s biggest surprises this season.

Kessler spent two seasons in college, one with the North Carolina Tar Heels and the other with the Auburn Tigers. He is one of those old-school types of big men who were prevalent before small-ball basketball nearly wiped out his breed.

Utah’s young center attempted only 54 three-point shots in his college career, making just 11 of them for a nightmarish 20.4% clip from deep. He relies on putbacks, dunks and the occasional flick from three feet to score. Kessler made 60.1% of his shots out of that aforementioned diet of shots.

Where Walker Kessler has become a force to be reckoned with is on defense, particularly rim protection. He was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year with Auburn last season and owns several shot-blocking records.

After trading Rudy Gobert, a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner, to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Utah Jazz naturally picked Kessler. They were probably content with grooming him to become Gobert’s heir apparent.

New Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy refused to play a traditional center in his starting lineup. He had three power forwards, Kelly Olynyk, Lauri Markkanen and Jarred Vanderbilt handling big-man duties at the beginning of games.

Walker Kessler spends most of his minutes playing with the opposing team’s second unit. But his play for almost a month now has made him almost indispensable in Hardy’s lineup.

Heading into their matchup against the Orlando Magic, Kessler is averaging 6.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks. He records 4.7 blocks per 100 possessions, an elite figure in the NBA.

The other night against the Memphis Grizzlies, the No. 22 pick of the 2022 NBA Draft finished with six blocks. Five of those blocks came in the first quarter, which caused a stir and hard-earned applause from the hostile Grizzlies crowd.

The Utah Jazz wanted to groom him for some kind of Rudy Gobert impact. He’s already proven that he can replicate some of that in just his first year in the NBA.

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Walker Kessler's block party continues against the Orlando Magic

Walker Kessler had a new career-high seven blocks against the Orlando Magic tonight.

After a career-high six blocks against the Grizzlies the other night, Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy inserted Walker Kessler into the starting lineup. Kessler justified Hardy’s decision as he terrorized the Orlando Magic inside the paint.

Kessler finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and a new career-best seven blocks. He also altered several more shots from Orlando players who wanted to attack the rim.

Although he’s been posterized a few times due to his rim-protecting work, the young big man isn’t shying away from challenging drivers. He has recorded at least five blocks in a single half this season thrice. Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies has two, while six other players have one.

Walker Kessler now has 83 blocks this season as a rookie with the Toronto Raptors’ Christian Koloko coming in second with 45. Utah’s rookie leads the entire NBA in blocks off the bench.

Danny Ainge’s rebuilding project is off to a great and surprising start with the emergence of Kessler.