{
  "id": 9277566,
  "title": "Lakers player goals for 2026-27 season: Walker Kessler",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/lakers-player-goals-for-2026-27-season-walker-kessler",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-23T05:13:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/lakers-player-goals-2026-27-051302296.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "As training camp and the 2026-27 NBA season approach, the Los Angeles Lakers are setting goals for each player to achieve during the upcoming season. Center Walker Kessler, the team's most significant acquisition this offseason, has three key objectives: staying healthy, improving his perimeter defense, and expanding his offensive game.\n\nKessler's health is a concern, as he only played five games last season following shoulder surgery and has missed time in his previous three NBA seasons. However, he appears to be healthy now and has two reliable backups in Kevon Looney and Sandro Mamukelshvili, though neither can handle heavy minutes at the center position.\n\nA significant part of Kessler's game revolves around his defense. While he's an elite shot-blocker and rim-protector, his effectiveness guarding perimeter players is questionable. Opposing teams may frequently have him guard perimeter players and switch onto smaller ones. Kessler doesn't need to become an elite perimeter defender like former Lakers superstar Anthony Davis, but he should be able to hold his ground in those scenarios.\n\nLastly, Kessler needs to expand his offensive repertoire. While he's been an effective lob threat, he's not a primary offensive option. In his four NBA seasons, he averaged just 9.5 points per game in 25.3 minutes. However, during the limited time he played last season, he showed promise in adding a 3-point shot, making six successful attempts on eight attempts. Developing a consistent 3-point shot could open up more scoring opportunities and options within the Lakers' offense. Additionally, improving his low-post game, scoring from about five to eight feet from the basket, could allow the team to occasionally run its halfcourt offense through him, forcing defenses to focus more on him.",
  "summary": "If Walker Kessler accomplishes these three goals, he can justify his price tag while helping the Lakers take a step forward.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}