How does Walker Kessler fit with the Minnesota Timberwolves?

How does Walker Kessler fit with the Minnesota Timberwolves on both ends?

Minnesota’s struggles with rim protection were especially visible in the playoffs against Memphis, when they allowed the Grizzlies too many opportunities in the paint. Kessler might very well be the answer to that issue.

With him protecting the rim, Auburn held teams to 38.6% shooting, which was the seventh-best in Division 1 basketball that season. Hopefully, Kessler will be able to transfer that skill to the NBA level.

Furthermore, Kessler has proven to be good at playing drop coverage. If he is able to do this on the higher level, it will take some defensive pressure off of Towns, as the T-Wolves star is rather uncomfortable with playing drop coverage, and it often gets him into foul trouble.

Kessler can take over that responsibility, and while he needs to improve his perimeter defense, he is also mobile enough to play high wall coverage. This should add some flexibility to the Timberwolves’ defense.

Offensively, Kessler’s impact will be less significant. Coach Chris Finch likes to play tall, though, and adding Kessler to the roster gives him more opportunities to do that. With both Towns and Kessler on the floor together, they could, for example, man the low post and the high post at the same time.

It also offers Minnesota the option to play Towns as the power forward instead of the center. At first, Kessler probably will not see many minutes on the court as he still continues to grow. He will probably mostly function as a back-up center to Towns and will not play much together with him, but this might change as he becomes more comfortable playing at a higher level.

Either way, Kessler should soon feel comfortable with the young core around Towns and youngster Anthony Edwards.