6. Will Walker Kessler be in Utah for 2022/23?
Walker Kessler was one of the names acquired in the Rudy Gobert trade, and while he’s virtually unknown to most Jazz fans, he has the potential to be a future starter for this squad, for quite some time. The No. 22 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft has already moved teams once this off-season, and while Danny Ainge and the Jazz are looking to acquire as much draft capital as possible, they still need players for the future, and at 23-years of age, Kessler can be a good piece of the puzzle.
While his defensive game may never reach the level of Gobert, he averaged over four blocks per game in his one season at Auburn, and if he can refine his offensive game, the Jazz could have a center that lines up perfectly with the new timeline of the franchise. Most of the players Utah received in the Gobert deal were role-players, but getting Kessler seemed like an intentional move, and while they’re definitely going to take a hit in performance at the center position, in a few years, this could turn out to be a major steal, along with the haul of picks the Jazz received for Gobert.