Walker Kessler Discussion: Rim Protector And Lob Threat

Chet has a substantial better offensive bag. Mobley too. Embiid when healthy. Even Duren. Lively has no touch or moves, he's kinda basic on offense, which I think matters if we're talking "best center after Jokic". And ignoring Wemby ofc.
He's outstanding on defensive with his versatility, I remember seeing his on/off numbers in Dallas during that run and he was unbelievable. But I don't think he has a 2-way game to be in the tier 1 of centers, not to say he couldn't become an elite center on a championship team, if healthy.

If not wrong, he wasn't elite on rebounds either which matters too. He's good but clearly not top 5 and probably not top 10 either.

But I like him a lot and hope he gets healthy. Seems to be a nice kid too

 

healthy embiid doesn't exist. lively was more sophisticated and skilled offensively as a rookie than duren is now, imo. word was that lively's three point shot was pretty good in practice, and he has good touch on floaters. he has no moves, but unless you're jokic or embiid, your center should basically have no moves in the modern nba. you have to be absolutely elite in order to work possessions for two point shots that aren't dunks or layups.

mobley's not a center; he's basically never played there. chet's not a center, either, tbh.

anyway, again, it's largely a moot point because healthy lively may never exist again. but before the injuries, i believe he was on the path to being basically the ideal center for the way teams want to play now.

and all of this started because franko basically acknowledged this and said kessler was probably the next best fit, so it's good that we grabbed him.

 

I agree that he doesn't need to be but I'm very confident he will be. He has the entire package right down to effort and work ethic. By star, I don't mean anything stat wise and don't care about that. He is exactly what the Lakers need and it will show in wins. IMO that will make him a star and I think to the fan base it will as well. Kessler makes us a strong championship contender vs a team that needed everything to go our way and it still might not have been enough. Star Power Baby!!!...lol.

 

Very interesting video.
It could help to understand which type of center he is, what we can expect from him and from his development.

 

Here's the strengths and weaknesses he breaks down



But really recommend watching it for the film breakdown

 

@LTLakerFan I don’t think his calves are up to your specifications

 

He’s a tall drink of water though. Big mug of beer?

 

Look at the head on those babies.

 

Thank you for posting the summary

He has so much potential to grow with the Lakers and I'm really looking forward to him playing with Luka and AR

 

Honestly, I would have been much happier if it was Peyton Watson + Ellis + Smart and then you trade Vando + Knecht + 1st + 2nd you got from the Ayton trade for Gafford. My concern with Walker is he's too expensive for what you need him to do. Luka can make any below the rim center play way above their value so overpaying for Walker and now having to funnel your defense to him whereas if you had used that money to get Watson + Ellis, you wouldn't need to worry about your defense as much.

I'm fine with the rest of the moves. Just a bit worried about how so much of the defense will be on Walker. He's a very good center but also unproven. Part of why he got paid so much isn't because of his ability as much as it is how dry the center market is.

But Luka wanted Walker so the onus is on him to make it work. When you're the star and you make those demands, you better be able to figure it out especially since the Lakers lost all their draft capital.

 

Did we overpay? Yes, but Luka has a a very short list of centers he wanted, Duren and Kessler, that’s it. Peyton Watson was never in any of Luka’s wishlist, nor LB favorite Ellis lmao, Rob went with what Luka wanted like Rob did with BRICKBRICK when AD and Bron wanted it.

 

With these 2 to chose from which one would be better for this lineup?

I know we have WK, but would like some input from posters with more knowledge, thanks

 

Kessler is the better fit. It's actually good Luka makes any center look good on offense, because Kessler is not great in that side of the ball and will benefit from Luka.

He's elite on defense and rebounding. He's top3 rim protector in the league which matches perfectly with a Luka/AR build that will always result in opponent guards getting to the rim more.
Then he's a top3 rebounder that is another way of helping defense, as we get more possessions. He's also a top3 offensive rebounder which helps on that too.
Btw, when I say top 3 is only for argument's sake because he was already top of the league in some of those metrics and has the potential to establish as the best in the league for the years to come (bar alien's rim protection because yeah that's not fair lol)

He's less talented than Duren, but he has the exact strengths you need to balance the team's deficiencies that come from having a team with Luka/AR being your highest paid players

 

Thank you for the input

I learn so much on this forum from many of you

I really appreciate being able to read all the posters input

 

if lebron walked, i think my ideal offseason going in would have been watson, grimes, ellis and then retaining smart with the room exception and using ayton/etc. to trade for a center (claxton or gafford, i guess).

but even before the offseason hit, i realized watson was basically not going to happen. denver would not participate in a S&T with us, and i think they would have just matched an RFA offer to screw us. plus, watson is klutch, so i think we'd have gotten little agent help there.

to me, pivoting to kessler/duren made sense. kessler was the one we could get, so we got him. i don't think he'll be overpaid unless he gets injured, but that's true of anyone. read somewhere he'll be like, the 10th highest paid center in the league. for someone of his age and ability, that's more than reasonable, imo.