Walker Kessler is an incredibly effective rim-running center. His offensive super powers are his speed and his ability to draw the defense in as a lob and rebounding threat.

Defensively, he’s an incredible rim protector and shot blocker. In his third season, now stronger than ever, he has been even more effective in both of those areas.

Because he possesses all of the qualities of a pretty traditional (though more mobile and quick) big, the Utah Jazz haven’t used him much anywhere that is too far from the rim or the dunker spot.

On Friday night though, the first play the Jazz ran was for Kessler in the left corner. Yes, you read that correctly. The Jazz ran a play to get Kessler a corner 3-pointer, which he shot and made.

On the next trip down the floor, they ran the play again. If ain’t broke, don’t fix it, you know?

“That’s an itch that we needed to scratch a little bit,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said of the play. “Made the first one, so let’s do it again. Made the second one.”

Kessler had just three 3-point attempts in his rookie season (1-of-3). In his second year, Kessler had just 19 3-point attempts, almost exclusively from the corners.

Though the number jumped up in his second year, 19 attempts throughout the entirety of the season is not a big number or one to pay attention to as something that might become regular.

Until Friday, Kessler had not attempted a 3-pointer in the 2024-25 season. There’s not enough evidence yet to believe that 3-point shooting is going to be a big part of his game, but should it be?

“It’s hard to tell,” Hardy said. “I do think that versatility helps. I think that as a game goes on, or as you are in the playoffs and a series starts to change, sometimes you have to make adjustments to your spacing.

“Offensively, it’s nice when changing the spacing doesn’t require a sub, so also, because Walker does so many great things for us defensively, if you wanted to try to drag somebody else’s defensive big away from the basket and not have to substitute to do that, that’s always a luxury. But, yeah, it sort of remains to be seen.”

Brook Lopez is a great example of an NBA big who went from being a non-factor from the outside to completely changing his game and becoming a versatile 3-point threat who helped Milwaukee become a team that was difficult to outmaneuver because of his outside shooting, and that was a change he made to his game after eight years of being in the NBA.

View Comments

That being said, the Jazz aren’t going to wait for eight years to decide that Kessler’s game should be expanded. It’s actually a conversation that happens a lot behind the scenes between the coaching staff and Kessler and the front office and coaching staff.

“I use the word dosage with you guys a lot, and I think that’s the most important thing,” Hardy said. “I don’t want to turn the rest of the season into Walker just bombing 3s. I don’t think that’s productive for him or us, but it might be time for us to scratch that itch a little bit more than we have.”

To his credit, Kessler thinks that expanding his game is really important, but not at expense of other parts of his game. After Friday’s loss to the Suns — which ended up being a 3-point barrage from everyone on the court with both teams combining for 44 made 3-pointers, tying an NBA record — Kessler said that while he wants to be viewed as a threat from everywhere on the court, he wants to be a threat on both sides and without a dropoff.

“I’ve also got to bring along my defense, my rebounding,” Kessler said. “Tonight I didn’t do as well as I’d hoped, so, you know, that’s the goal — to be able to tie the offense and the defense together.”

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.