THE Utah Jazz The Jazz have doubtless wrapped up their main offseason strikes. Most notably, the staff added three new signings to its younger core. The Jazz now have three years of draft picks since embarking on this daunting rebuild. Whereas every prospect is at a special stage of their improvement and every seems to have completely different worth to the staff’s future, let’s rank them.
This isn’t a rating of essentially the most promising gamers, nor a take a look at who’s presently the very best. We’re going to take a look at what they’ve already proven, the place they need to enhance, and the context wherein that matches for the Jazz. With out additional ado, let’s dive in.
1. Keyonte George
The 20-year-old from Baylor turned heads in his first season on the staff. The Jazz because of his superior offensive sport. George arrived in Utah with the sixteenth choose within the 2023 draft, regardless that he was projected to go a lot larger all year long — a recurring theme amongst many groups’ draft picks over the previous two years. Since then, the All-Rookie honoree has been the brilliant spot on this younger Jazz rebuild.
Keyonte George is one in every of my finest bets for a standout second season and it is no shock why.
Averaging 13/2.8/4.4 on 39.1/33.4/84.8 splits, George earned 2nd Staff All-Rookie honors and confirmed why he is one of many brightest skills poised for a breakthrough in 12 months two.#UtahJazz pic.twitter.com/PQmxPWrju3
— mohamed (@mcfxz) July 11, 2024
George was broadly thought of a combo level guard when he was drafted. Regardless of this, he rapidly earned the belief of Will Hardy along with his high-level basketball IQ and pure passing abilities to grow to be the staff’s start line guard.
He is coming into a pivotal sophomore season as he seems to be to proceed honing his playmaking abilities. George is new to the place, however his mixture of capturing, passing and intelligence makes me optimistic about his prospects. He’ll have an opportunity to indicate the staff’s decision-makers that he can really grow to be their main level guard of the longer term.
Take a look at this dime of Keyonte George. His passing has clearly exceeded expectations to date. pic.twitter.com/C35ZPiG4pm
— Draft Dummies (@DraftDummies) November 18, 2023
The final time we noticed George on the court docket, he was busy scoring 31 factors and 5 assists on a really environment friendly 9/15 capturing throughout the SLC Summer season League. Whereas we did not see a lot of him this summer season, he proved that he is on a special degree than most of these he shared the court docket with.
George wasn’t excellent. He struggled at instances to seek out the proper steadiness between looking down photographs and getting ready his teammates. Total, although, he had an excellent summer season.
A number of the areas the place George wants to enhance are easy. First, he must grow to be extra environment friendly. I am not nervous about that, as a result of his hitting means is clear. George’s photographs ought to begin falling as he will get stronger and extra comfy.
Second, he wants to enhance his command of the sport and his decision-making means. That is one other space that the majority younger backs battle with. Lastly, George must grow to be a extra impactful defender. Nevertheless, along with his measurement and athleticism, I anticipate him to proceed to enhance. If he continues to take a position, he will likely be fantastic.
Certainly one of George’s most unusual traits is his confidence. It is particular for a 20-year-old guard to return into the league and never be afraid. The second that involves thoughts is his sport towards Steph Curry, the place he tied the document with 9 three-pointers. I am unable to wait to see the place his mixture of confidence and onerous work takes him.
A document night time for the tower 🔑@keyonte1george𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗦 towards Golden State tied the @NBA rookie document for many factors in a single sport 🫡#BESTINBA pic.twitter.com/bEULaxalvh — Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) September 13, 2024
George is a promising younger expertise, given his superior capturing means, high-level passing, and sharp basketball thoughts. As he continues to study the intricacies of the purpose guard place, I anticipate him to become the most effective offensive guards within the league. I additionally stay up for watching him lead this younger Jazz staff. He will likely be requested to do rather a lot this 12 months, and we’ll quickly discover out if he’s prepared.
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