How does Walker Kessler fit with the Minnesota Timberwolves?

How well will Walker Kessler fit in with Minnesota Timberwolves core players?

At Auburn, Kessler played with Jabari Smith Jr., a big man who is an excellent shooter and can attack the rim very much like Towns. They played well together, so one can assume that Kessler will also work well together with Towns. Besides that, Kessler also already had a chance to get to know Edwards’s game as they played together at the top-100 camp in 2018.

Kessler is mostly only comfortable in the paint and is not an especially great shooter outside of it. This should not be a big problem with the Timberwolves though because they already have good shooters.

Edwards, Towns and point guard D’Angelo Russell all shot between 34% and 41% on three pointers during the regular season. Having a non-shooter who dominates the paint could allow more freedom for Towns to abandon the center position and roam the perimeter.

While Russell’s future with the Timberwolves is not certain yet, he and Kessler should work out well together if given a chance. During the regular season, Russell averaged 6.7 assists and is very capable of setting up shots for players who are not able to create for themselves. Kessler will certainly benefit from having a point-guard like that around him.

Russell is best in pick-and-roll situations and Kessler can be a solid partner for him as he sets good screens and offers many options after the pick-and-roll. He can dunk on lop-passes or score easy layups off bounce passes, but he is also a good passer for a player of his size. If his scoring options should be denied, he can find the baseline cutter or an open shooter.

Even though certain details about the Timberwolves’ roster next season are still unclear, it seems that Walker Kessler should fit in well with their existing core and fill some gaps defensively.