The Utah Jazz are likely to have Keyonte George and Darryn Peterson start in their backcourt this coming season. Read that again.
The Jazz have Darryn Peterson, their most exciting prospect from the jump since Darrell Griffith, along with Keyonte George, who was considered an MIP candidate and an All-Star snub in part because the Jazz's tanking got in the way.
And now, they're about to be teammates and likely for the long haul, too. The possibilities of what history these two could do together are so tantalizing that it's almost unbelievable that Utah has them both at the moment.
The talent and potential between the two of them is so tantalizing that it's a fair question to ask have the Jazz ever had a backcourt this good? It's a fair question because Utah has had some solid backcourt over the years, but it's fair to say that they haven't had quite a dynamic duo like this maybe even ever.
They've typically one excellent lead guard at one time, not two
Utah has an impressive history of building their playoff teams from the ground up. As far as backcourt pairings go, though, their best backcourts have always been a little bit flawed, even if they have been good.
During the John Stockton, the best backcourt running mates he had were Jeff Malone and Jeff Hornacek. Malone was a talented scorer, but he was a score-first player, affecting their chemistry. Stockton and the Jazz did much better once they swapped him for Hornacek, who may not have been as much of a scoring threat, but was a feared floor-spacer with a solid scoring acumen.
But by the time Utah got him, Hornacek was coming out of his prime. He and Stockton played beautiful basketball together, but they were both aging even as they brought Utah to heights they haven't seen since.
Then there was the Deron Williams era. He never quite had a running mate quite on the level of Hornacek or really a Malone when you think about it. The guard besides him in the backcourt was either CJ Miles, Ronnie Brewer, and Kyle Korver.4
Utah obviously managed well, but if anyone asks about Williams' right-hand man in the backcourt for the Jazz, it would likely be on a trivia night.
Lastly is Donovan Mitchell. He had more notable guards to play next to than D-Will did. That started with Ricky Rubio, who was both an excellent passer and defender for his position, but his limitations as a shooter limited the Jazz ceiling.
Hence why they moved on from him to go get Mike Conley Jr., whose Jazz tenure is looked back at pretty fondly, even if it wasn't always pretty. Like Hornacek, Utah got him just as he was falling out of his prime.
(We would delve into the Pete Maravich era, but it's fair to say those Jazz teams didn't really have anyone else on those rosters worthwhile, let alone a backcourt mate next to prime Pistol Pete.)
So when you compare the best backcourts the Jazz have ever had to Peterson and George, it's hard not to get excited for what the future holds. If all goes well, this could not only be the best backcourt the Jazz have ever had, but by far.
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