4 Utah Jazz players that need to have a big 2024-2025 season

C Walker Kessler

Walker Kessler is a guy that has tremendous upside. That is, assuming he can actually find the court. A lot can be said about how Will Hardy used Kessler during the 2023-2024 campaign. He clearly favored John Collins over Kessler, which didn't help the team defensively any bit (in fact it actively hurt the team). It also hurt Kessler's self-esteem and impact on the team. Kessler, never seen as an offensive dynamo coming out of college, was limited in his action as a second-year player.

That limitation hindered him as a pro and hindered him as a prospect. He wasn't making the same impact on games this year as he did in the season prior and when he was given a chance to showcase his skills, whatever defensive impact he generated was never enough for Hardy, who'd often pull him for arbitrary issues on offense.

The lack of steady minutes has hurt his reputation, and his admittedly limited offense has held him back from impressing the only person he needs to impress; Hardy. Kessler isn't going to be some great offensive threat, but maybe he can turn into a Brook Lopez type, offensively speaking. If he can generate that type of offense, then maybe Hardy will start to use the big man.