Walker Kessler's career average of points per game sits at only 9.5. In the five games he played with the Utah Jazz last season, there were signs Kessler was heading toward his most productive season as a scorer, averaging 14.4 points per game in that extremely limited sample size. Next season with Luka Doncic should help deliver on what 2025-26 promised it could be for Kessler.
While the former Jazz center spent most of last season sitting at home due to injury, Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes both had their lives on offense made extremely easy whenever Doncic was guiding them to points. The ALL NBA Podcast did a great job capturing just how effective Luka was at elevating his bigs.
Efficient two-man games pic.twitter.com/w1ZSRS1T6v
— ALL NBA Podcast (@ALLCITY_NBA) August 10, 2026
The well-known show crunched the numbers to find the most productive two-man games in the NBA last season. Doncic was on the list twice with both of his centers.
Luka and Hayes had 567 total actions in 2025-26, with their points per direct effectiveness placing them second in the NBA, only behind the duo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren. Doncic and Ayton were also in the top 10, ranking eighth in the league. Kessler should be licking his chops.
Walker Kessler will be playing offense on easy mode with Luka Doncic
There should be a couple of key takeaways for Kessler, should he ever stumble on those statistics himself. The first one has already been covered, the new Lakers center will have it easy with Doncic. The other one focuses on why Hayes was so much more effective than Ayton.
Imagine how much better Dominayton could have been had he fully bought in on doing what was necessary in tandem with Doncic. Ayton's wavering effort and commitment to the role often left him as a nightly mystery when it came to the product that was going to be had at center.
One could easily argue that Hayes was and is a less talented player than the center he backed up last season. However, the high-flying rim runner was fully bought in and executed the playing style that complimented Doncic's game much better. That made their offensive partnership the superior one.
The way Kessler has spoken about his role in Los Angeles would lead people to believe there is a built-in willingness to do what Doncic needs of him. That should set up the highly-priced center for a full season of breaking out on the offensive end, health permitting.
Add us as a preferred source on Google