By signing Keyonte George to an extension, the Utah Jazz signaled that they believe he will be integral to their success moving forward. At his core, George is an undersized, well-rounded scorer who definitely leaves something to be desired on defense, but he has the makings to be one of the NBA's elite scoring guards.
Huh, kind of like... Jalen Brunson? Now before anyone freaks out, no one is setting the bar for George to be at Brunson. The Jazz's team makeup and the New York Knicks' makeup are very different. The only reason why we bring up Brunson is because he just proved he can be the best player on a championship team.
The Knicks are not only the reigning champs, but they tore through the playoffs like a wet sheet of paper, losing only three games total. Brunson definitely did not single-hande guidedly guide them through that, but their race to the top shows that yes, teams can win with him at the forefront as long as they build the right team around him.
Utah's makeup is definitely different from New York's. In fact, it's clear that, for the time being, Lauri Markkanen or Jaren Jackson Jr. should be considered the Jazz's best player. However, the Knicks success with Brunson shows that a team can win a title with that player archetype that Brunson champions and George posseses
Even better, for as impressive as Brunson is, he's not considered among the NBA's best players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, or even Giannis Antetokounmpo. No one's firing shots at Brunson here, but rather to point out that a title-winning team doesn't need a player at the absolute top to win.
That should give the Jazz all the confidence in both George and how far they can go with him as he embarks further on his NBA journey.
Brunson & George are more similar than you think
Outside of how similarly they approach the game, Brunson took less money to stay a Knick, and look where it got them. We won't know until we see him on the floor, but there's a good chance George will have done the same thing with the extension he just took to stay in Utah.
When Brunson first signed with New York in 2022, he hadn't proven nearly as much as he was going to after he joined them. He took a team-friendly deal with the motivation to prove it. George may very well do the same thing in Utah in no time. Of course, there's only one way to find out.
Brunson's actions led the Knicks to where they are now. No one's saying George will do the same thing, but no one should shut that notion down either.
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