If you did your best Chauncey Billups impression and bet on this game, I hate to break it to you, but you lost some money tonight. The Utah Jazz couldn’t quite get it done tonight vs the Portland Trailblazers
in what ended up being a very close game after trailing big in the 4th, which leaves the Utah Jazz with a record of 2-2 and an even .500 on the year. After winning the first quarter 44-33, the Blazers went on an 84-55 run in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, leaving the Jazz having to trail by 19 at the start of the 4th. The Jazz battled hard but fell short with the final score being 134-136. Blazers win.
Your starters for the night were:
PG: Keyonte George
SG: Svi Mykhailiuk
SF: Lauri Markkanen
PF: Kyle Filipowski
C: Walker Kessler
Another night using the towering 7-foot frontcourt with the hopes of disrupting the Blazers’ talented forwards/bigs in Donovan Clingan, Deni Avdija, and Jerami Grant.
Walker Kessler: Development
WALKER KESSLER: 18 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3/4 3FG
I have been dying to talk about Walker Kessler. The big guy’s development, from what we have seen early on, has been a game-changer. I have never seen a shot, especially from a big, develop as quickly as Kessler’s. Suppose you look at every analytical indicator, dating back to his days in college, relating to Kessler’s 3pt trajectory. In that case, the numbers say that it would take quite a miracle (or just a really, really long time) for it to become a reality. I know that Walker Kessler has been compared to Brook Lopez in one way or another, but Lopez had a much better touch compared to Kessler, especially at the stripe. Now, time will tell if the shooting from Kessler is sustainable or if these first few games are just a fluke. However, the FT%, along with the 3PT%, is encouraging to say the least. I have nothing but love for Walker Kessler, too, and if he can shoot it with the confidence that he is showing, and at the rate he is, then you have a top 5 big in this league, EASILY.
In tonight’s game, Walker Kessler was the most impactful player on the court, in my eyes. He had two or three impressive playmaking reads, and that is another developing part of his game. I don’t think that people grasp how significant a jump that Walker has taken in that department, either. Throughout his basketball career, Walker Kessler has been primarily a DHO, PnR roll-man, and offensive rebounder, and that keeps his usage up, but it doesn’t really do anything to his assist%. In Walker’s college career (he played at UNC & Auburn), he averaged a total 7% AST% and 19.6% USG%, which is a .36 assist-to-usage rate (AtoU) — for reference, the average AtoU for a drafted big man out of college is .38, so Walker Kessler was just below average in that category. Now, entering Kessler’s first season in the NBA, he increased that AtoU to .44 — there’s a lot more space in the NBA, and it’s a lot more organized, but here is the kicker… before tonight, Walker Kessler has a AtoU rate of .95 which is an increase of roughly 165% since his days in college and nearly 116% since entering the NBA.
Here are some visuals:
Walker Kessler is a fantastic player, and it showed again tonight. He was relentless on the glass, a force to be reckoned with in the paint on both ends of the court, and an efficient finisher at the cup. Walker also had a clutch 4Q block on Shaedon Sharpe as the Jazz were rallying back. Why haven’t we paid this man his money yet? If the shot stays true, and the productivity everywhere else continues on a linear development trajectory, Walker Kessler could be in for a HUGE payday this summer — or hopefully any time before, if possible. For what it’s worth, I would love to see it happen.
Lauri Markkanen: Still Finnish-ing
LAURI MARKKANEN: 32 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks.
There’s not much to say other than the fact that Lauri Markkanen is still a fantastic player. He uses his length in so many ways and uses it to his advantage on both ends of the floor. If you haven’t played 2K26 this year, there are these cheesy players that you can make where you are 7’4 and can shoot over anybody without seeing a contest — Lauri Markkanen is like that. Every time Lauri shoots the basketball, I feel like it’s going in — he is truly an unbelievable marksman, and he can do a whole lot more than that. He had one play tonight vs the Blazers where he grabbed the defensive rebound and ran the whole court, while bumping into a defender, for a quick transition dunk.
I am not surprised Lauri Markkanen is still on this Utah Jazz roster. He can fit into almost any NBA offense with his ability to play off the basketball, which should make him very valuable for teams that have a superstar, which is why we are keeping him, for when we do get our superstar. However, the Jazz are going to have to do that through the draft, and all we can do is pray that the Utah Jazz are bad enough for that to happen. Unless the Jazz decide that trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo is a better option, and I wouldn’t put it past the Jazz & the Ainge brigade to do so, barring whatever happens in May or where they sit prior to the draft lottery.
He was picking apart the Blazers tonight on offense and was carrying quite the defensive load as he tallied 6 stocks. He’s just so hard to stop. Someone trade for him so we can tank in peace (please, I need a top 3 pick, or I will go into psychosis).
Ace Bailey: Bouncing Back
ACE BAILEY: 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
Before tonight’s game, Ace Bailey was struggling to make a bucket. Now, there are many theories as to why that was, but it was really nice to see Ace have a solid game for a rookie. It looks like the minutes restriction is still on for Ace as well because he ended the night only playing 15 minutes in small spurts. He is someone whom I didn’t have as high as others on draft night (10th on my final big board before the draft), and I was excited for him because, as many have said, Utah was, and still is, the best place for his development — and yes, I would have had him higher (probably around 7th-9th) if I had known that he was coming here. There are going to be many games where Ace will look like he did in the games before tonight (especially as a rookie), there will be games where he looks like how he did tonight, and then there will be games where he surpasses anything we have seen before as he progresses and gets older. I’ve seen the discussions where Ace is being painted as our future guy and someone who can be the guy who runs our entire offense down the road, and I disagree with that at face value. I think Ace Bailey shouldn’t be your offensive engine because, in most cases, offensive engines make everybody on the team better, rather than primarily being a good individual player. I think there’s an outcome where Ace is a really good individual player and can impact the game in a variety of ways, but as far as elevating everyone else’s game, I’m not sure if he’ll fit the bill down the road. Now, I know that Ace Bailey is very young, and I know that I just talked about Walker Kessler breaking some statistical probabilities early on, but the odds are low. I want to make it clear that I am not hating on Ace as a player at all. I am saying that if he just improves what he is already good at, instead of trying to go into unfamiliar territory, then he can be a really solid, productive, and valuable player down the line. In short, I think the expectations for this kid need to be tempered more than what’s being said online.
The dynamics of Ace Bailey and Lauri Markkanen make me a skeptic as well. Offensively, Ace is really good at coming off screens, pin downs, and cutting. As our projected forwards/wings going forward, based on what we can gather from the mouths of the FO, it’s going to be intriguing to see what Will Hardy has in store for us as we continue building the next iteration of the Utah Jazz.
Quick Hitters:
PORTLAND NOTES:
- Shaedon Sharpe had a big 2Q where he scored 11 points in a quick 6 minutes, just lighting it up from 3. I think he’s a fun player to watch and is comparable to Zach LaVine’s early years.
- Donovan Clingan is a massive dude with crazy anthros. He is so disruptive and intimidating at the rim; on the defensive side of the court, Clingan finished with 3 blocks, 1 steal, and 7 rebounds. The Blazers have something with him going forward. I’ve been watching him for a long time and continue to be impressed.
- Jerami Grant was a problem to deal with early on, and I believe Will Hardy called a timeout and got mad at Svi Mykhailiuk for letting him get off 2 consecutive threes in the first couple of minutes of the game.
- Overall, the Blazers have some defenders on their roster. Camara, Grant, Holiday, Clingan, Wesley, and even Avdija at times all hold their own and apply pressure from multiple angles.
JAZZ NOTES:
- The ball just doesn’t seem to go in often for Keyonte George. He had a great 4Q, and he got to the FT line at will tonight (15/15 FT), but the shooting off the dribble and finishing continues to be inconsistent. I really like Key as a person, and he’s had a fantastic summer, so I hope he figures it out.
- Ace Bailey still plays great when Nurkic is on the floor. I am not mad at the Collin Sexton trade because of how beneficial Jusuf is for Ace’s game. I would sacrifice Sexton again for the same purpose.
- Walt had another “Welcome to the league” game and struggled to score the ball. I think he plays very maturely, and I enjoy watching his pace and what he does on the defensive end of the court this early on in his career. He is my personal preference at the guard spot going forward.
- I always love seeing Hendricks healthy on the court. It’s unfortunate he’s being overshadowed by some other developing young forwards on our roster because I think he provides a defensive and rebounding edge that the others don’t bring at the same level he does. We just have so many non-ball-handling forwards, so it’s hard for him to play otherwise; the offense will grow stagnant.
- I actually enjoyed the Brice Sensabaugh minutes. I think he was active on defense, grabbed a handful of rebounds, and took some good shots. He only played 15 minutes, so my enjoyment was short-lived.
- Svi got minutes.
