Walker Kessler has ability of two former LA Lakers players combined, says Derek Fisher

While Luka Doncic sat out the game, it was a chance for Kessler to build chemistry with the rest of his teammates. Sandro Mamukelashvili expressed his excitement, praising Kessler’s ‘amazing’ skillset.

Former Lakers player Derek Fisher believes Kessler will offer the same traits that former centers Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes did, combined into one player.

Fisher explained via 97.1 The Fan: “I think he played with a level of energy and passion and force that you need your bigs to play with in the league now, and I feel like they missed that over the last couple years.

“I thought Deandre Ayton did a good job statistically playing the position and adding some offense to their lineup at times. Jaxson Hayes was kind of the guy that would come in the game and bring like the high energy spreading the floor and catching lobs and blocking shots, but the combination of the two didn’t quite you know elevate the team in a certain way.

“I think Kessler has the ability to do a little bit of both.”

Kessler was acquired in a trade with the Utah Jazz. Jaxson Hayes ended up signing in Utah as a free agent, with Ayton landing with the Washington Wizards.

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Kessler helps Lakers stars

While the Lakers lost LeBron James, the team struggled to find an effective system that supported the superstar along with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Walker Kessler could end up being better suited.

Derek Fisher said he was excited seeing Kessler link up with Reaves and is confident this will be replicated with Doncic too. He believes the Lakers offense is going to be difficult to defend.

Fisher explained: “His rolling to the rim and putting pressure on the rim coming out of pick and rolls with Austin and Luka are going to be a really important aspect. He’s such a big target.

“He has too much size around the basket, which almost makes it impossible for the bigs to help on the screens, which means Austin and Luka are just gonna live in the paint, which then means they’re gonna score and some of the wide open threes that they’re gonna be able to create around his real pressure are gonna be good.”

The biggest challenge for the Lakers is going to be keeping Kessler healthy. He missed almost all of last season on the Jazz. Kessler is so unique that the Lakers do not really have an effective replacement, so they will need to maximize him, while also treading carefully.

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