Breaking Down Jazz's Two Center Options to Replace Rudy Gobert
Trading Rudy Gobert left more than a few holes in the Utah Jazz's roster. His departure left the starting center role extremely young and thin.
Gobert is a whole defense unto himself and a transcendent defensive center, so trying to fill his shoes isn’t fair to the core of centers on the Jazz's roster now. We still don’t know what the roster will look like at the beginning of the season with trade rumors still swirling but for now, Udoka Azubuike and newly acquired 2022 draft pick Walker Kessler (No. 22 overall) is the depth at that position.
For eight years, the Utah Jazz, both offensively and defensively, was built around Gobert’s strengths as a player. This new roster will have to rebuild its identity and defensive schemes.
Whether new head coach Will Hardy chooses to go small or not, the Jazz will still have to position themselves defensively on a night-to-night basis against the Goberts, Nikola Jokics, and Joel Embiids of the league. It will be interesting to see who takes up that mantle.
Azubuike showed he wasn't quite NBA-ready in Year 2 but will be tested going into his third season.
A quiet part of the accumulation of assets acquired in the blockbuster trade that sent Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves is the aforementioned Kessler. The towering 7-foot-1 center matches Gobert's size and defensive prowess, at least that was his forte in the college game.
Walker was drafted out of Auburn and won SEC Defensive Player of the Year while averaging a career 11.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.6 blocks per game. Auburn basketball head coach Bruce Pearl is quoted praising Kessler for his talent and size:
"(His height) is an important piece to the equation. He's a different huge. He's 7-foot-1 and little big. He's got another level length," Bruce Pearl said via Auburn Daily. "Think about blocking a shot and think about literally the centimeters between actually getting it, deflecting it, and actually coming close to it. So that size and length matters."
That length and size will help in Walker's transition to the NBA game but whether the defensive versatility and athleticism translate is yet to be seen. Kessler could be the next Gobert if it all works out or he could fade into irrelevance like so many 7-foot centers in today’s NBA.
We'll see how the team and roster moves play out in the coming months but Kessler or Azubuike will likely play some role in the rotation of the new season.
Follow Andrew on Twitter @ArembaczNBA.
