Jazz's Walker Kessler Reveals Biggest Areas of Improvement This Summer

The Utah Jazz big man has had a busy offseason.

Across the most recent NBA offseason, it's clear the Utah Jazz and their players have been working diligently in preparation for the year ahead, and third-year center Walker Kessler made that sentiment clear during his media availability on Monday.

Kessler, the Jazz's 23-year-old big, is coming into this campaign with a lot to prove. He started his first year in Utah off as one of the top three rookies in the entire NBA, and while a massive sophomore leap didn't quite come as expected last year, the stage is set for a bounce back to be underway for Utah's five man.

When speaking with the media about what he's worked on and how he's improved this summer, Kessler emphasized the work put into his free throw shooting, also leaning more into his physicality and ability to be a dominant presence inside:

"I think that this summer, different from my first and last year, I was consistently working. At home or in Utah, and that's been huge for me. I put on good weight, I know I feel great physically. I really worked on, obviously, my free throw, and just continuing to play with a physical presence and be dominant. This summer has been huge."

- Walker Kessler on his offseason

Kessler finished last season in Utah averaging 8.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks in just over 23 minutes a night and could be gearing up for an expanded opportunity during year three.

The Jazz look more committed than ever to putting stock into their young players for the year ahead, and in the case of a full youth movement, Kessler will have more PT and responsibility on both sides of the ball than he did for his sophomore sample size.

Kessler continued during his media day interview to go a bit more in-depth into what he's been working on, specifically on the offensive end, across these past few months, emphasizing his physicality, screening, and playmaking ability as being aspects he's tried to improve this offseason:

"Physically using my size to put the ball in the basket... I think, my screening, my footwork, and my angles, I've really worked on a lot this summer. My dribbling... to get to that second side quickly, hand off the ball, get to the basket, and set up guys to score. Also, just having the ball in my hand, making plays for other guys... been working a lot on that."

- Walker Kessler, cont.

As the Jazz's defensive anchor and interior presence, a lot will be on Kessler's plate to show out with a bit more strides forward than we saw last season.

The 2022 first-round pick saw some ups and downs that took his second year off course down the stretch, but with a full summer to recalibrate and get back to being a dominant force on the inside, there's a ton of optimism to be had in the Auburn product for the 2024-25 campaign.

With a strong preseason and camp potentially underway, expect Kessler to find his way into the starting lineup a bit quicker and some improved numbers on the stat sheet to follow.

The first look at a new and improved Walker Kessler will be coming up soon, as the Jazz are set to take on their preseason debut come the end of the week on October 5th vs. the New Zealand Breakers of Australia's NBL/

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