Walker Kessler (C, UTA) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 17

February 5, 2023

Walker Kessler is worth considering as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup heading into Week 17 of the 2022-23 NBA season.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 29% of leagues

ANALYSIS: The Jazz are coming off a loss to the Hawks on Friday in which Walker Kessler had his worst game of the season since at least November. Veteran PG Mike Conley shared some words of wisdom after the game, saying that folks "expect so much out of him that you forget that he’s a rookie, that he’s 21." Word.

Kessler is doing something sublime but people out there are not appreciating it enough, and the Jazz seem to have realized they're just another rebuilding team after their unexpected start to the year. In other words: they need and will keep giving as many reps as possible to the rook.

Kessler posted a 2-5-0-2-1 line against the Hawks on Friday in just 18 MP. It's the fewer FP he's scored since November 28 and the fewest minutes he's played since January 7. Starting to count from January 8 and through Friday, though, Kessler has averaged a ridiculous 33 FPPG on just 26 MPG for an efficiency of 1.23 FP/min.

Just for context, the league average is at 0.90 and only the likes of Siakam, PG13, Sengun, KAT, and Kyrie are putting up that per-minute fantasy average. Not bad for a newcomer, am I right?

From January 8 through Friday, Kessler leads all rookies in RPG (10.2) and he's the only freshman averaging a double-double (10.4 PPG). Have I mentioned he's blocked an average of 2.7 (!!!) shots in that span? Well, yes, yes he's done that. Only three players have swatted more shots per game than Kessler since the start of the calendar year: Jaren Jackson Jr., Myles Turner, and Nic Claxton.

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