Five Best destinations for Walker Kessler

Here are five potential landing spots for Auburn basketball forward Walker Kessler.

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Walker Kessler will offer a defensive presence that several NBA teams will be searching for in the NBA Draft. 

Kessler played his freshman season at the University of North Carolina then transferred to Auburn to have one of the best defensive seasons in Auburn basketball history.

Kessler, the former five-star center out of the state of Georgia, averaged 11.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.6 blocks a game, while also shooting the ball at just over 60% on the season. Kessler earned SEC defensive player of the year, national defensive player of the year, and second-team All-SEC honors. After Kessler earned such high honors, it seemed right for him to pursue the next level and declare for the NBA draft.

Most mock drafts, even though the order is pending the results from the NBA Lottery, have Kessler around the 14-24 range in the first round.

Let’s take an early look at five good landing spots for the 7-foot-1 center: 

Milwaukee Bucks

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The Milwaukee Bucks are currently in the playoffs as a three seed in the eastern conference, and are trying to defend their NBA title. The Bucks have had to deal with and overcome multiple injuries this season to some important players but have had a successful season nonetheless.

Milwaukee is currently sitting at 27th in the NBA in blocks per game due to their only defensive big presence is former defensive player of the year and MVP Giannis Antetokoumnpo. Getting another big to back up Brook Lopez should be extremely high on their radar. Drafting a big guy would also give them the ability to move Bobby Portis back to his more natural position and let him play the power forward.

Depending on how far the Bucks go into this playoff run will determine if a guy like Kessler is good at that pick, but I think the fit of Kessler as a Buck is perfect. 

Miami Heat

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The Miami Heat have had their best season since 2014 when Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh were there and they are the one seed in the eastern conference playoffs. Miami is another team, just like Milwaukee, where they have struggled with blocks per game. They are last in the NBA with only 3.2 blocks per game as a team. That is largely due to the fact that Miami is a very guard and wing centered team. Outside of Bam Adebayo, they have no true centers on the current rosters.

Kessler would make an immediate impact in South Beach with his length and rebounding ability, but also being able to sit behind Adebayo whose outside game is as best as any big man in the league and learn from him. 

Portland Trail Blazers

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The Portland Trail Blazers are coming off of a very weird season, filled with trades, injuries, and not making the playoffs for the first time since 2012. The Trail Blazers were 27th in the league in rebounding and also in the bottom half of the NBA in blocks per game. Portland has no centers currently contracted for the 2022-23 season, but they will try and extend Jusuf Nurkić this offseason. Allowing Kessler to come off the bench while still helping Portland in their most needed problems.

Where the Trail Blazers pick in this draft will be telling if Kessler is the right pick for the spot or if they move up in the lottery then they might look to take a more NBA ready player. 

Charlotte Hornets

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The Charlotte Hornets have not won a playoff series since 2002 and are coming off back-to-back years where they have gotten blown out in the new play-in tournament. Outside of the previous struggles from Charlotte, they are a very young and talented guard-heavy team led by upcoming star Lamelo Ball.

But the lack of a big guy presence in Charlotte, and the only true center in Charlotte is Mason Plumlee has to have the owner of the Hornets Michael Jordan, intrigued in the big guys like Kessler in the draft this year. 

Chicago Bulls

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The Chicago Bulls are one of the best runs and seasons they have had since 2014. They are the sixth seed in the eastern conference and went 46-36 on the year. Even though the success of this season for the Bulls, the only center they have on the roster that gets minutes is Nikola Vučević. This has led to struggles in rebounds and blocks per game. They were 28th in the NBA in rebounding and 27th in blocks, and those are two impacts that Kessler can make immediately coming off the bench in Chicago.

The finish to the NBA playoffs and the NBA draft lottery set on May 17th will tell us a lot more about where might Kessler end up. The possibility of having two first-round picks from Auburn in the same draft for the first time ever is something very special to see. 

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