Walker Kessler shot six 3-pointers Sunday night in Minnesota and then shot another five treys on Monday night against the Chicago Bulls at the Delta Center. Across his nearly three seasons in the NBA he’s shot a total of 33, and a third of them have been in the last two days.
No, Kessler is not acting out some sort of big man rebellion against the Utah Jazz. Rest assured, this sudden increase in volume shooting is a deliberate decision made by both Kessler and Jazz head coach Will Hardy.
I assumed after watching Sunday’s game that the Jazz might look to use the last chunk of the season to get Kessler some more pick-and-pop opportunities and that he’d been given a green light, which was confirmed on Monday after speaking with Hardy and Kessler.
“It’s about trying to give him an opportunity, going into the last 15 games of the year, to tinker with that a little bit, while not taking away from the other things that he does well,” Hardy said. “It’s for him, but it’s also for his teammates to to see when those moments might be. Walker, historically, for us, has been a cutter when he’s been spaced, but now we’re trying to give him a couple of different opportunities to stay spaced and shoot those catch-and-shoot 3s.”
It is going to take some time for not only Kessler to get comfortable recognizing the moments when it is smart to roll, versus when it is smart to pop. Likewise, it is also going to take his teammates quite a bit of time to really get used to the idea of him not always rolling, or him being available for a trail-3 on a fast break.
That’s why Hardy wants Kessler and the Jazz to use this next chunk of games to experiment. These games don’t matter as far as results go, so it’s okay to go through something where there will be growing pains.
Importantly, Hardy doesn’t want Kessler paying much attention to his percentages or whether or not the shots are actually going in. Kessler works on his shooting a ton behind the scenes and he has been working a ton on it since joining the Jazz. The coaching staff will worry about technique and making him more efficient when the time comes. For right now, it’s about being able to find the right time to shoot and the space to do it.
Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) yells toward the referee during an NBA game against the Chicago Bulls at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward Kyle Filipowski (22) holds his head after a basketball hit his head during an NBA game against the Chicago Bulls at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy coaches during an NBA game against the Chicago Bulls at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Chicago Bulls forward Talen Horton-Tucker (22) drives the ball against the Utah Jazz during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Chicago Bulls forward Talen Horton-Tucker (22) goes up for a basket against the Utah Jazz during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Chicago Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) drives the ball down the court guarded by Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (00) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Chicago Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) loses control of the ball while jumping up to make a shot during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Chicago Bulls guard Tre Jones (30) loses control of the ball while jumping up to make a shot during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) yells toward the referee during an NBA game against the Chicago Bulls at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) reaches for the rebound during an NBA game against the Chicago Bulls at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) jumps up to take shot during an NBA game against the Chicago Bulls at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Chicago Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) jumps up to make a basket during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Chicago Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) and Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic (9) block Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) from shooting the ball during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
The “Jazz Bear” wears Saint Patrick’s Day-themed clothing during an NBA game against the Chicago Bulls at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Chicago Bulls guard Kevin Huerter (13) gets the rebound during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) prepares to turn toward the basket to make a shot while guarded by Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic (9) during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (00) drives the ball toward the basket during an NBA game against the Chicago Bulls at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (00) loses control of the ball while jumping up to make a shot during an NBA game against the Chicago Bulls at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Chicago Bulls guard Coby White (0) falls during an NBA game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) yells toward a referee during an NBA game against the Chicago Bulls at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Utah Jazz forward Brice Sensabaugh (28) and Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams (44) go for the rebound during an NBA game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 17, 2025.| Tess Crowley, Deseret News
“Right now, if Walker gets six 3s off, I consider it a win,” Hardy said. “The technical details of all that are not going to be ignored, but I also don’t want to over complicate it for him...it’s about shooting 3s that make sense, shooting them with confidence, like stepping into it with confidence, but the actual technical part of his footwork and those types of things we’ll deal with in the offseason."
Kessler and Hardy have been talking about taking this step for a while — really since Kessler got to Utah. And there have been small moments here and there where Kessler has gotten a few 3s off, but never in volume. Prior to Sunday, the most 3-point attempts he’d taken in a single game was two.
And, it’s hard for Kessler not to focus on the makes and misses. He’s 1 for 11 over the last 48 hours. But he is completely bought into the idea of finding the shots and is willing to go through a lot of misses in order to try to expand his game in a way that can be really valuable.
“Coach is a big proponent of players trying to get better and expand their games,” Kessler said. “He’s kind of given me, for these last (15) games, the go ahead to try and work on it ... and I’m very, very appreciative of him to give me the opportunity to work on it, and I believe myself to know that I can do that.”
It’s not just about being able to eventually reliably hit 3s just to be a 3-point threat. Putting Kessler on the perimeter would give the Jazz a lot of versatility if he was able to draw bigger defenders out to the perimeter. Then, Kessler could operate as a playmaker to connect with slashing guards in dribble-hand-off situations, or any other way that would benefit his teammates.
Additionally, there will be moments when Kessler will see that once he’s out on the perimeter, he might not have a shot, but he can attack the closeout, which is something he did during the Jazz’s 111-97 loss to the Bulls on Monday.
Midway through the third quarter, he caught the ball just above the break and faced up to the basket as if he was going to fire off another 3. But, as Nikola Vučević closed in on him, Kessler put the ball on the floor and used the open space the drive to the basket.
“When you start looking at the basket to shoot, things kind of happen that come to you that weren’t previously really coming to me,” Kessler said. “There’s definitely opportunities for fun. You know, everyone wants to shoot 3s, obviously. But more than that, just expanding my game to help the team in the future, I think is going to be huge.”