Jazz's Keyonte George Starting to Deliver on Promise

The 21-year-old guard took the NBA and Jazz fans by storm at his first summer league. He then earned the starting point guard role early in his rookie season, a challenging role that he’d reportedly never been tasked with throughout his career.

Despite this, George showed flashes of excellence mixed with some clear areas for growth.

One thing about development is that it is rarely linear. After starting the first 32 games of the season, head coach Will Hardy decided that it would be best to bring George off the bench. Hardy was clear that he chose to do so because he felt it was best for George’s development.

The biggest reason was his defense. To survive in the NBA, the Jazz need George to be a better defender. At 6’4 with a near 6’8 wingspan, George has the dimensions and athleticism to be solid on that end of the court.

He’s had instances of good on-ball defense, but being locked into team schemes has been a huge area for growth. It’s been clear that he’s making a more concerted effort on this end in recent weeks, a theme that is encouraging going forward. Hardy acknowledged the strides being made as well.

The true specialty of George is his offensive talent. While the skill is apparent, the efficiency has been inconsistent. The growth has been a joy to watch as the season has progressed.

George’s production has been on the uptick month by month. After averaging 13.2 points per game in October, that number has consistently risen to 18.7 in February.

His stats as a whole have been terrific in February. 18.7 points, 6.8 assists, and 4.6 rebounds on 45% shooting, 37.8% from deep, and 75.9% from the line. The only real knock is that he hasn’t shot free throws well this month, otherwise, George has been excellent.

Heck, if you take away his first five games of the season, George is averaging 17.2 points, 5.9 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game on 42% shooting, 37% from deep, and 80% on free throws.

People have pointed to two reasons for the growth: he’s now coming off the bench, and he’s playing off the ball more with the growth of Isaiah Collier.

While both could be helping him, I’d throw some cold water on these theories. His minutes are largely the same (31.6 as a starter versus 31.4 off the bench) and he’s still playing the point guard when not sharing the court with Collier.

The bigger lesson is that George has continued to take coaching, challenge himself, and develop.

This is a great sign for his future. George is unique in that he can play both on and off of the ball offensively. He’s a good and willing passer who makes tough live ball passes to cutters, rollers, or skips to open shooters. His ability to manipulate defenders and make correct reads has improved this year.

Though his off-the-dribble efficiency has gone down this year, the shotmaking talent is clear for Key. He’s shooting 38.9% on catch-and-shoot three-pointers this year, a number that jumps to 42.5% during this month.

Expectations for George have been high. Because of this, it’s easy to get frustrated with the growing pains.

What’s clear is that he’s starting to turn a corner in his second season and will only get better. George has proven that he’s a student of the game, he wants to be great, and he’s willing to put the work into improving.

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