AUBURN | As the No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, it’s no surprise that Jabari Smith is joining a Houston Rockets team that was short on talent and wins last season.

It’s a completely different situation for Walker Kessler, who was the No. 22 overall pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves finished 7th in the Western Conference with a 46-36 record last season, getting knocked out by the No. 2 seed Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs.

“We have a really good team. The guys we took are going to be behind some really good players,” said Tim Connelly, Minnesota’s President of Basketball Operations. “Those guys are going to have to work their tails off to even get on the court.

“But what I hope in two or three years when we talk about the draft in 2025, the guys we chose this evening are part of our core.”

Kessler was one of the Timberwolves’ four acquisitions on draft night. After Kessler, they took Duke forward Wendell Moore Jr. at No. 26 along with Memphis forward Josh Minott and Italian guard Matteo Spagnolo in the second round.

Kessler, Moore and Minott were introduced by the Timberwolves Tuesday and will play in the NBA summer league, which begins July 8 in Las Vegas. Spagnolo will continue to play professionally in Europe.

“We were looking for personality types. Certainly we were looking for guys we can grow with long-term,” said Connelly. “We understand it’s unbelievably difficult to find good NBA players after a certain point in the draft. We’re aware of the challenges that presents but we think we left tonight with a bunch of guys we really, really like."

The Timberwolves have a solid core of young players led by center Karl-Anthony Towns. But instead of competing with Towns for playing time, Kessler is hoping to eventually play alongside him.

“As far as playing with another big, I think in that system I can thrive so I’m really looking forward to it,” said Kessler. “I think the main goal is just to come in and impact winning right away and improve the most I can and do the best I can.

“Beyond that, I think the rest of it will take care of itself. I’m a big believer on the idea that if you focus on the team’s success, you gain individual success from it.”

Kessler, whose grandfather played college at Minnesota and has family from Minneapolis, was named the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-SEC as a sophomore at Auburn.

He averaged 11.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and had a school-record 155 blocked shots. He totaled 13 double-doubles and two of AU’s three all-time triple-doubles.

He only made 10 of 50 3-point field goals last season but that’s a skill he and the Timberwolves believe he can improve on as a professional.

“I think teammates know, coaches know, they spoke highly of both his ability to make shots and more importantly his work ethic of trying to improve as a shooter,” said Connelly.

Kessler is slotted to sign a four-year contract worth approximately $13.2 million.