Even with the Jazz's increasingly abysmal start to the season, there is still plenty of excitement about this team. Among the most exciting plotlines is the rise of Keyonte George. While this was the leap the Jazz hoped he would take last year, the player Utah wanted George to be has finally arrived, and he's starting to get the recognition he deserves.
The Athletic's Alex Speers discussed George on "Slam N Jam" with Andrew Schlecht where George was the "WHAT??" in their "the Good, the Bad, and the WHAT??" segment.
"My 'WHAT??' this week is whatever Keyonte George has been up to this season because he's become an awesome player seemingly awesome overnight. But specifically the thing that makes me say 'WHAT??' is how he's getting to the line... He took three and 4.3 attempts per game first and second year (respectively)...
"Keyonte is currently averaging 9.3 free throw attempts, more than doubling his output last season, and he's good at them too, shooting 91%. That is a massive jump. His free throw rate... went from .31 to .61... When you look at players averaging at least 20 minutes a game... no one in the league sees a greater percentage of their points come from the free throw line than Keyonte George."
Note that this segment was released on November 8. Since then, George's FTA has gone down to 8.4, though his free throw percentage is still around 91%. Nonetheless, George's ability to draw fouls has been a fun change of pace for the Jazz, as something they've needed to surround Lauri Markkanen with was another scorer who could find ways to get his own.
And let's not forget the playmaking leap George has taken. Going from 5.6 assists a game (a solid average for a combo guard like George) to 7.2 should not be swept under the table. George has ascended all around. It hasn't been all-around perfect, but his improvement alone makes this Jazz season so much more exciting. It's what's getting him Deron Williams comparisons.
Even crazier is that there's still room to grow
Something Speers also delved into is that all George needs to do to prove he is a future star is simply improve his floor spacing abilities.
"If his three-point shot comes around... like we're talking about a star guard if he can shoot threes and get to the free throw line...if he can become a shooter and him being able to get to the line is real... his ceiling is suddenly so much more realistic than I was thinking heading into this season."
George has a mountain to climb to get that efficiency up. Currently, he's shooting 27.5% from three, but the season is still young. The Jazz guard has already proven he's worth keeping around long term. If the three-ball is there, and he has shot better in the past, then he'll have shown Utah that the team really has a guard as one of its building blocks.