Jusuf Nurkic has been in the NBA long enough to compare the players he currently plays with to those he played with in the past. He has been around some of the best players of this generation, like Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, and Devin Booker. Nurkic made a rather lofty comparison while praising Keyonte George, likening him to Lillard.
After Nurkic scored the game-winning basket over the Boston Celtics, he showered George with praise, explaining why he sees shades of Dame's game in George.
Jusuf Nurkic with some high praise of Keyonte George:
— Ryan Miller (@millerjryan) November 4, 2025
"He's my favorite player so far, literally. He's reminding me so much of Dame, in a way. Just the way he works, the way he understands the game and the way he wants to be better."
Keyonte Mania has been all the rage lately, as his third-year ascension has been the talk of the town for Utah since the season began. Sure, it's Lauri Markkanen who has been putting up the very best numbers, but when comparing their expectations coming into the season, George has been the one who has been more impressive.
The difference between them is that Markkanen has shown in the past that he can play like this, while George has only shown the kind of player he could be in spurts before this season started. However, if George turns into Dame 2.0, that would set the Jazz up quite well for a while.
It might be setting the bar a little too high to expect George to turn into Lillard, but if he approaches that level, he would unquestionably become a franchise cornerstone for the Jazz. Lillard was one of the league's very best scoring guards when he was at the top of his game. The two reasons why his teams never went anywhere were that a. he played in the same conference as Stephen Curry and James Harden, and b. Portland didn't do the best job building a contender around him.
Even so, Portland was still right in the thick of the playoffs with Lillard. Insert that kind of player into the Jazz, and Utah would have to feel pretty good about what's ahead for them. Especially because they could have more success with George than Portland did with Lillard if they play their cards right.
The Jazz have the assets to build a better team around George than the Trail Blazers did with Lillard
The Lillard era caught a bad break three years into it because LaMarcus Aldridge skipped town to go play in San Antonio, but even when the team steadied the ship following his departure, the Trail Blazers dragged a metaphorical anchor by committing too much money to merely adequate role players (Evan Turner, Moe Harkless, Al-Farouq Aminu, Allen Crabbe) and not getting another star next to Lillard.
They made some savvy trades here and there (Nurkic, Larry Nance Jr., Robert Covington, Norman Powell), but they only rounded out the edges and didn't significantly improve their ceiling. Dame and CJ McCollum were an excellent duo, but it was clear to anyone with eyes that they weren't enough to form a title contender.
Utah has plenty of young talent and the draft assets to build a better team around George than Portland did with Dame. It provides them with numerous options for assembling the ideal team. Because Lillard was ready to go from pretty much the jump (unlike George), the Trail Blazers didn't have the opportunity to surround him with other young talent, as they ascended pretty quickly.
The irony is that the one year they did - his rookie season - they drafted McCollum. Regardless, it's great that George is receiving lofty comparisons like these, especially from someone who played with the greats. However, no one should get ahead of themselves, even with George outperforming expectations to start.
But if Nurkic is already making declarations like this, and George only builds off of his hot start, the Jazz should be pretty excited for wha's to come.