Auburn Tigers in the NBA: March 28 edition 

With Auburn now having several former basketball players playing professionally, we’ve launched a weekly look at the Tigers in the NBA. Here’s a quick overview of how they’re doing this season.

WALKER KESSLER, UTAH

SEASON: Rookie

MARKET WATCH: Stock up. Kessler recently scored a career-high 31 points in a game. He’s averaging 13 points, 10 rebounds a game in March.

UP-TO-DATE KEY STATS: 9.1 pts., 8.3 rebs., 2.4 blks. (March 14 update: 8.6 pts., 8.3 rebs., 2.3 blks.)

GAMES/STARTS: 71/37

MINUTES PER GAME: 22.9

FIELD GOAL %: 72.4

BEST GAME: 3-25 vs. Sacramento (L): 31 pts., 11 rebs., 1 blks.

WORST GAME: 10-24 vs. Houston (L): 0 pts., on 0-for-1 shooting, 4 fouls in eight minutes.

HIGH POINT TOTAL: 31

BEST REBOUND TOTAL: 21

HIGH BLOCK TOTAL: 7

BEST ASSIST TOTAL: 4

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “In Saturday night’s 121-113 loss to the Sacramento Kings, the Utah Jazzreceived a career outing from rookie center Walker Kessler. Although it didn’t translate to a victory, Kessler was dominant and kept the Jazz in the fight throughout. 

After the game, Kessler’s veteran teammate Kelly Olynyk gave the rookie his props and challenged him to sustain the momentum. 

‘He was huge. Great game by him, great effort,” Olynyk said from the locker room post-game. “When he runs the floor like that and puts pressure on the rim, that vertical spacing where you can just throw it up where other guys can’t get it, that’s a huge advantage for us. He’s got to keep doing that, keep working to get better, but he was really, really good tonight, and that’s what we need from him.’ ” — Si.com 

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CHUMA OKEKE, ORLANDO

SEASON: Third

MARKET WATCH: Down. In four games this month, he has scored a total of six points as he’s still recovering from an injury that caused him to miss a few months.

UP-TO-DATE KEY STATS: 4.5 pts., 3.5 rebs., 1.1 asts. (March 14 update: 4.7 pts., 3.5 rebs., 2.2 asts. )

GAMES/STARTS: 23/7

MINUTES PER GAME: 18.1

FIELD GOAL %: 36.2

BEST GAME: 11-3 vs. Golden State (W): 16 pts., 9 rebs., 3 ast.

WORST GAME: 10-24 vs. New York (L): 0 pts., on 0-for-5 shooting, 1 turnover.

HIGH POINT TOTAL: 16

BEST REBOUND TOTAL: 9

HIGH BLOCK TOTAL: 2

BEST ASSIST TOTAL: 3

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Chuma Okeke recently returned from injury after a 41-game absence, playing on Valentine’s Day in Toronto before the All-Star break. He went scoreless in 13 minutes, attempting one field goal in the contest.

It was an easy dipping his toes back into the NBA waters. But as the Magic’s play-in chase heats up, they are going to need more. More from everyone. And that means they are going to need to tighten their rotations.

For Okeke then, this was not an ideal showing that the Magic would like to see from their former first-round pick. And while he does need some time to get some consistency and stability after returning from such a long hiatus, there are a lot of mouths to feed and players to play on this Magic roster. Not everyone is going to get their chance.

Okeke will have a difficult time finding his offensive groove to finish out the remaining 23 games of the season for this reason.

He has shown flashes of potential throughout his short career, but the Magic have continued to fortify the wing and forward positions since he arrived in Orlando.” — Orlandomagicdaily.com

ISAAC OKORO, CLEVELAND

SEASON: Third

MARKET WATCH: Holding steady. Okoro is averaging 7.3 points per game in March and is shooting 50.8% from the floor. Cleveland is 9-3 during this stretch.

UP-TO-DATE KEY STATS: 6.4 pts., 2.5 rebs., 0.4 blks., 1.1 asts. (March 14 update: 6.6 pts., 2.5 rebs., 0.4 blks., 1.2 asts. )

GAMES/STARTS: 76/46

MINUTES PER GAME: 21.8

FIELD GOAL %: 49.4

BEST GAME: 2-5 vs. Indiana (W): 20 pts., 3 rebs.

WORST GAME: 10-19 vs. Toronto (L): 0 pts., 4 fouls

HIGH POINT TOTAL: 20

BEST REBOUND TOTAL: 7

HIGH BLOCK TOTAL: 2

BEST ASSIST TOTAL: 5

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “When watching the end of their last game on Thursday night versus the Brooklyn Nets, many probably were not expecting Isaac Okoro to be shooting a shoot nearly at the buzzer.

For a quick refresher, the shot came after a scrambling sequence following Caris LeVert tracking down a loose ball after a Jarrett Allen tip-out. This was after a Donovan Mitchell missed second free throw attempt which would have tied the game at 114, for clarification, and after a missed follow of his own free throw miss.

LeVert was double teamed by the Nets in that sequence, and then he found Okoro alone in the weak side corner, made the skip feed to the third-year wing, and thenOkoro knocked down the corner triple. It was not exactly how one would’ve envisioned it happening, but big props go out to Okoro for canning that three, and given the well-documented extensive work he’s put in on to improve in catch-and-shoots, it’s paid off more as the season has progressed.

Further, he cashed in that look, and one could feel how heart-racing it was for the youngster immediately in postgame with team sideline reporter Serena Winters.” — King James Gospel

Isaac Okoro tells @SerenaWinters what it was like to hit the game winner for the @cavs pic.twitter.com/eSl4oAwRpD

— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) March 24, 2023

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JABARI SMITH JR., HOUSTON

SEASON: Rookie

MARKET WATCH: Stock up. Smith is shooting 48.1% from the field in March. That’s way above his season average.

UP-TO-DATE KEY STATS: 12.6 pts., 7.1 rebs., 0.9 blks., 1.3 asts. (March 14 update: 12.4 pts., 7.1 rebs., 0.9 blks., 1.3 asts.)

GAMES/STARTS: 73/73

MINUTES PER GAME: 30.7

FIELD GOAL %: 40.6

BEST GAME: 3-9 vs. Indiana (L): 30 pts., 12 rebs., 1 blk., 3 asts.

WORST GAME: 11-2 vs. LA Clippers (L): 2 pts., on 1-for-10 shooting, 2 turnovers.

HIGH POINT TOTAL: 30

BEST REBOUND TOTAL: 15

HIGH BLOCK TOTAL: 3

BEST ASSIST TOTAL: 6

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Houston Rockets power forwards Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason were recognized in nba.com’s latest Rookie Ladder. 

Smith Jr. progressed from their last rankings, ascending to No. 7 while Eason remained situated at No. 8. Both rookies have given Houston solid production in a losing season.

Smith Jr. — the 2022 No. 3 overall draft pick — has struggled with efficiency on the year, shooting 40.3 percent from the floor and 30.7 percent from beyond the arc. The month of March has seen him experience a vicissitude in fortune.

In 11 games this month, the 19-year-old rookie has upped his scoring by over three points to 15.5 points per night while seeing a seismic shift in efficiency rates. He’s shot 49.6 percent from the field and 39.6 percent from three on 4.4 attempts.” —SI.com

JT THOR, CHARLOTTE

SEASON: Second

MARKET WATCH: Stock up. Thor is having his best month in the NBA; he’s averaging 5.7 points and 2.9 boards a game while shooting 48.3% from the floor in March.

UP-TO-DATE KEY STATS: 3.2 pts., 2.0 rebs., 0.3 blks. (March 14 update: 2.6 pts., 1.8 rebs., 0.4 blks. )

GAMES/STARTS: 63/4

MINUTES PER GAME: 12.3

FIELD GOAL %: 40.8

BEST GAME: 11-4 vs. Memphis (L): 11 pts., 5 rebs., 2 asts., 1 blk.

WORST GAME: 10-28 vs. Orlando (L): 0 pts., 1 turnover

HIGH POINT TOTAL: 12

HIGH REBOUND TOTAL: 6

BEST BLOCK TOTAL: 2

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