The 5 Utah Jazz players who have the most to prove this season
By Chad Porto
Walker Kessler – Is he really an elite defender?
As with Lauri Markkanen, questions about consistency revolve around Walker Kessler. As a rookie, Kessler took the NBA by storm, coming out of almost nowhere to become one of the NBA’s better defensive big men. He was a steamroller defensively and showed that he was well worth the first-round pick the Minnesota Timberwolves spent on him; and well worth the trade the Utah Jazz made to acquire him.
He may not be better than former Jazz, current T-Wolves’ center Rudy Gobert currently, but many believe he isn’t far behind (if he’s behind at all). And that’s just off of one year, where he wasn’t even the starter for a lot of the season. Now, he has to prove that his rookie year wasn’t some fluke.
Can Kessler really turn up the defensive efforts and live up to the lofty billing he’s been getting? After all, we’re not talking about a good defensive player the Jazz could use to help win games. In just year two, many are talking about Kessler being a contender for the Defensive Player of the Year award.
And if not, we’re talking about a Second Team All-Defense spot, and those are huge expectations for a 21-year-old to shoulder.