Keyonte George is the answer for the Utah Jazz
At a recent Utah Jazz practice, head coach Will Hardy decided to do something a little unorthodox. He set aside his whistle and clipboard and went silent.
It would be up to the point guard — 20-year-old rookie Keyonte George — to run things.
“Will is putting me in uncomfortable situations and I’m learning to get comfortable.” Utah Jazz rookie Keyonte George
“He was the one that had to organize everybody,” Hardy said. “It’s good for him to get used to using his voice and it’s good for his teammates to get used to responding to him.”
It’s one thing when Hardy is talking with George during a game, while a teammate is at the free-throw line, and then George relays information directly from Hardy to the rest of the team. It’s another thing for George to be in charge and the one making decisions, telling everyone what to do based on what he alone is seeing.
“Will is putting me in uncomfortable situations and I’m learning to get comfortable,” George said. “Guys are way older than me in that locker room. It’s kind of out of the box to tell a 30-year-old, ‘Hey, get to the corner,’ or ‘Hey, this is what we’re in.’ . ... It helps me a lot knowing that the four guys that I’m on the floor with, they’re going to let me play through mistakes and also let me lead them throughout the game.”
That little piece, about the team allowing him to play through mistakes, is really important, because the players on this team do not want to lose.
Lauri Markkanen is in his prime and has never been to the playoffs. John Collins doesn’t want to see his career take another downward turn, he wants success. Jordan Clarkson didn’t sign on to stay with the Jazz just to watch them languish at the bottom of the standings. But, they will live with the mistakes and the hurdles that George is facing because they can see his potential and what he can become — a stable and strong point guard who makes the players around him better, on a winning team.
Early signs
There were certainly some doubts when the Jazz first drafted George with the No. 16 overall pick. He had a negative assist-turnover ratio at Baylor and was coming into the league known as a scorer, not a distributor. But the Jazz had combed through video of George and they saw some important things.
George was not expected to be a playmaker in college, but you could tell by the way that he manipulated defenses and did so with the ball in his hands, that he had a good feel for the game and that his vision was on par with what would be expected from a point guard.
Hypothetically, the Jazz saw a player that could flourish around NBA talent. If he was surrounded by better shooters, if he was given NBA spacing and speed, they believed that he had the tools to be successful.
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Fast forward to Summer League and training camp and the Jazz front office and coaching staff were pleasantly surprised that not only were they justified in their evaluations, but that George was more ready and more skilled than they’d originally believed.
“You started to really see the passing, which we thought was there — maybe not at this level,” Hardy said. “But once we saw his ability to get the ball where it needs to go, based on his size and ball handling and all those things, it was sort of a no-brainer that playing the one was where we think his future is.”
And it wasn’t just the coaching staff or Jazz brass that was realizing they had something special on their hands. George’s new teammates were quickly seeing that there was more to him than just a being a college-level bucket getter.
When the Jazz were in Hawaii for training camp, Collins was on the court with George during a practice scrimmage. Collins set a pin-down screen to help one of his teammates get open — all part of a set play. What wasn’t part of the formal set was what Collins did next, rolling backward off the screen, cutting to the basket just to try and create some movement.
“It wasn’t a play, it was just a read off of a play,” Collins said. “I cut and I was wide open and the ball was in my chest pretty much. He was reading my body language and threw it early, before I even cut … So I was like, OK. Maybe I have to respect his mental a little bit more and be ready.”
Just about every player on the team has a story like that about George from training camp or preseason, which is why they are willing to live with George’s mistakes. They can see that he has what this team needs.
Starting off right
What almost no one expected was that George would play himself into a starting role on this Jazz team in less than 10 games. Then, in his first two games as an NBA starter, George dished out a combined 20 assists with just three turnovers, a far cry from his days as a kid from Baylor with a negative assist-turnover ratio.
“It’s phenomenal to see someone come in, 10 games into their career, and be able to do something like that,” Kelly Olynyk said. “He’s really good, he listens, he’s a quick learner and he understands the game and can see the game really well.”
Since being inserted into the starting lineup, George has made it his top priority to make sure that the Jazz’s top scorers are getting the ball not only where they like it, but where they need it and his focus is paying off, not only in his own stats, but that of others too.
Asked why Clarkson has been having such a hot offensive streak as of late, Hardy answered with a single word.
“Keyonte.”
And that can be the answer to a lot of questions for the Jazz.
What’s the reason for the ball moving better lately? Keyonte.
What’s behind the change in spacing and the positive results there? Keyonte.
Why has Markkanen been able to get his shots off quicker? Keyonte.
Is there a reason the Jazz seem to be feeling more optimistic? Keyonte.
Who is the one person that could have predicted this? Keyonte.
“I know good things are coming and I know that I belong here,” George said during training camp. “People will say all they want about who or what I was coming out of college, but this is where I belong and I know I’m good enough. This is going to be a process and I know that I have a lot to prove to people. But I’m going to prove it.”
The road ahead
The Jazz came into the 2023-24 season desperately needing a strong and natural playmaker. They needed someone who could not just play at the point guard position, but was meant to play at that spot and they have that in George.
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What comes next though is navigating the grueling nature of an 82-game season and learning how to not only physically deal with the brutality of the NBA, but to also emotionally conquer it.
“Losses are hard at any level,” Hardy said. “I never want losing to go numb on anyone. But can you wake up today, learn something from the film, do some work on the court and then get yourself ready to compete again tomorrow?”
If everyone else on the team is going to be willing to live with George’s mistakes, he will have to learn to do the same, and move on in short order. George needs to learn to keep his confidence high despite mistakes and losses and change, because he’s bound to experience a lot of that.
A rookie year in the NBA is eye-opening. George is likely to face more rotation changes, bigger defensive challenges, possible roster changes at the deadline, which could impact how he’s expected to play on the court. He’s going to face physical toil and exhaustion in a way that he hasn’t ever had to face it.
And because George has shown his potential and because he’s had such a successful start to his NBA career, that means that the road ahead is going to be filled with expectations. He may not be expected to be the best player or score the most points, but he is expected to lead this team.
“I’m ready,” George said. “For everything.”
