Jazz Rank: Malik Beasley and Walker Kessler tie for 7th/8th Most Valuable

A Jazz Rank first occurred in the most recent voting results, with Malik Beasley and Walker Kessler tying with exactly 88 votes each to become the 7th/8th Most Valuable Players on the Utah Jazz roster. When Malik Beasley is your 7th or 8th man, you know you have a pretty deep roster. And it’s no wonder the Jazz are getting calls “daily” about trade discussions for him per Shams.

Malik Beasley was another piece of the Rudy Gobert trade. The 26 year old wing has had an up and down career, missing a lot of games due to health as well as suspensions. But he entered this season with excitement to rehab not just his personal image, but his basketball value as well. Beasley is a great shooter, something we’ve seen first-hand in the early goings of the season. He’s a career 10+ point scorer and shoots nearly 39% from downtown. He’s also on a very team-friendly contract with a team option for 16 million for next season. It’s been fun watching him, from his clutch shots to this adorable moment:

Walker Kessler also came over to the Jazz via the Gobert trade. Ironically, it was with Utah’s own #22 draft pick that was traded to Memphis (Mike Conley trade), then to Minnesota (draft night trade), and back to Utah after the draft. Kessler was a first round pick after a season for Auburn that saw him average 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 4.6 blocks per game. To put that into perspective, his 155 blocks individually was more than 322 of the 358 D1 basketball teams last season. His defensive IQ and ability are off the charts for someone his age. Rim defense will always be extremely important in the NBA, so I’ve been saying since preseason that Kessler would have a 12 year NBA career. But will his game keep up with a league that also asks for shooting and perimeter defense from their bigs?

Jazz Rank Results

7/8. Malik Beasley and Walker Kessler

9. Simone Fontecchio

10. Talen Horton-Tucker

11. Ochai Agbaji

12. Nikeil Alexander-Walker

13. Udoka Azubuike

14. Leandro Bolmaro

15. Rudy Gay

Ok let’s move on and keep the series going!