Keyonte George’s evolution will not be linear. There will be high points. There will be pockets of the season where a lack of experience as a point guard and as an NBA player shows. There will be nights when he looks like one of the best rookies in the league. And there will be times such as Monday night in a loss to the Denver Nuggets where George makes a big fourth-quarter mistake and finds himself sitting out the rest of the game.
What can’t be denied is the talent, both the potential and already realized. What can’t be denied is that George has the ability to become a star in this league — if he works at it, continues to improve his body and his game and continues to develop under coaching. That’s why it can’t be denied George holds the key to the Utah Jazz’s future in many ways.
Lauri Markkanen is already on board. And as his 27-point, 14-rebound performance against the Nuggets showed, last season’s breakout wasn’t a fluke. Markkanen is a star. He’s 26 years old, entering the prime of his career and he’s someone the Jazz know they can build around. The passel of picks the Jazz have and the money created by a bevy of contracts expiring by the end of the year? Utah should enter next summer as a prime trade team, the kind of team with the assets to make a splash in a deal for a significant talent.
Jazz CEO Danny Ainge, general manager Justin Zanik and the rest of the Jazz brain trust believe the franchise needs three star-level players in order to return to the title-level contention they reached in 2021 when Utah garnered the top seed in the Western Conference but lost in six games to the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round.
One, Markkanen, is secured. The question is whether one is currently on the roster.
That’s where George comes in.
The handles, the jump shot, the ability to play to spots and play at all three levels as a scorer and playmaker have been there since the night the Jazz drafted him. He was one of the best players in NBA Summer League in Las Vegas until an ankle injury cut that short. He was a star in September pickup runs at the practice facility. On some days, he was even the best player on the floor.
Even with those talent flashes, Utah’s front office and coaching staff have been careful of not putting too much on his plate too soon. Jazz head coach Will Hardy isn’t starting him, although his minutes have increased steadily over four games. He’s closed a few games, but even with that, the Jazz are OK with bringing him along incrementally, even, if at times, his play screams for more time.
The question is: Should George be starting? His natural instinct for the point guard position is probably the highest on this Jazz roster. His natural talent level probably exceeds any other guard on the roster. It’s a complicated situation. While the fan base clamors for George to be handed the keys — and there are valid reasons for him to be given those keys — the Jazz are intent to not move too fast on that.
There are reasons the Jazz are correct. On Monday night, George missed a 3-pointer and instead of getting back defensively, which should have been his first instinct, followed the shot. The point guard, without fail, is the first person who has to bust back in transition. When George didn’t do that, he opened the team up to a transition opportunity. That was his first mistake. His second, was giving up on the play in transition, which allowed Aaron Gordon an easy rebound and dunk.
That sequence of events earned George the remainder of the night off, and the Jazz played well when Talen Horton-Tucker came back into the game. But, George’s mistake encapsulates why the Jazz want to move a little slower. There are certain things that only come with experience, and George lacks experience at the little things.
However, when you see the bursts of talent and ability, they jump out at you.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) as the Utah Jazz host the LA Clippers, NBA basketball in Salt Lake City on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.
Consider the transition play George made in the second quarter of Saturday night’s loss to the Phoenix Suns. He grabs the rebound and is immediately in the open floor. What he does here is both subtle, special and instinctual. He looks slightly left, which causes Walker Kessler to speed up, because now he thinks there’s a chance for him to get the ball. He looks slightly right, and Kris Dunn runs wide. That forces Eric Gordon to make a decision to commit. Once he does towards Dunn, George makes the correct read, explodes to the rim and lays it up at the basket.
In one play, George uses a deceptive change of speed, encourages both teammates to run without verbal communication and uses a first step that not many on the roster, if any, have. This season, Jazz guards haven’t done this often in transition. They have just gone to the basket 100 miles per hour, and either make or miss the attempt at the rim. But George in this clip manipulates the defense in a way that’s unique for a rookie and for someone his age. It makes you wonder how crafty he’s going to be once he figures out the league.
A few moments later, there was a more instinctual manipulation of Phoenix’s defense. George, whose ability to shoot the ball already stands out, uses a shot fake to freeze Gordon. Then he gets by the veteran with his first step. Gordon is a monster defender in a phone booth because of his strength as Jazz fans will remember how well he once defended Donovan Mitchell in a playoff series. But, in space, a quick guard such as George can scorch him. And that’s exactly what George does, easily beating Gordon off the dribble.
That was the easy part. The difficult part was the multiple correct reads he needed to make on this play. He temporarily freezes Jordan Goodwin with a pass fake to Horton-Tucker. Goodwin makes the wrong read defensively, because Horton-Tucker is not a catch-and-shoot guy. But with that split second advantage, George draws Jusuf Nurkić, forces the help and finds Kessler for the finish. That’s three correct reads from George, plus the ability to avoid an offensive foul. These are the kind of plays that have Jazz fans salivating when thinking what can potentially be with George.
There were times when, like a quarterback, George was forced to go to an alternate read. The first option is the quick slip from John Collins for the lob, but that was covered well and not available. So, George quickly probes the defense and doesn’t go too deep into the lane. Instead, he gets an advantage on Josh Okogie, and gets to the free-throw line. That draws help from Goodwin, but rather than keep probing, George quickly kicks to Jordan Clarkson.
Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George, left, looks to drive to the basket as Denver Nuggets guard Julian Strawther defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Oct. 30, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
At this point, the Jazz are in advantage basketball because of the work George has done. Rather than stand, George drifts slightly left above the break. Then he does two very good things. First, he’s shot ready, and Clarkson deserves a lot of credit here for making the correct read and being unselfish enough to pass it back. Second, George reads Okogie’s closeout before he catches the basketball. Okogie, respecting George’s first step, closes out with hesitancy because he knows George has the ability to blow by off the dribble. Once George sees that, he rises and fires and hits a 3.
What’s good about that play is George’s ability to read and move and react without the basketball as well as with it. He initiates the play on the ball. He finishes the play with his reads off the ball.
Those three plays give a window into just how talented George is. It also gives a window to why the Jazz want to be cautious. Utah doesn’t have to throw him on the floor for 35 minutes and see what it has. The Jazz know what they have. They don’t know what they have in Horton-Tucker, who is in the last year of his contract. The same can be said for Collin Sexton.
Still, it feels as if George is sort of inevitable, here. Even in a limited sample size, the talent level is clear enough that it’s probably just a matter of when George will take over the starting role. It might not be this month or next month. It might not even be this season. But it’s difficult to imagine George not being the starting point guard by opening night of next season. At which point, he’ll still be just 20 years old.
In whatever time it takes, the Jazz want George to learn on the fly. Things like running the offense, commanding the respect of the veterans on the floor, and yes, getting back on defense are the trial and error that take time to master. That’s where developments happen.
The things that you can’t teach? George has those. That’s why he’s been one of the most impressive rookies in the league over the first week of the season.
— This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
