Keyonte George has been a man on a mission this season. After a concerning sophomore year, George has clearly worked to put it all behind him,as he's taken the reins as a scorer and facilitator. With his rapid improvement proving itself to not be a fluke (yet), George's play could ascend high enough to give Utah something they haven't had since Deron Williams: a hybrid elite scorer and playmaker.
Before anyone thinks this is Donovan Mitchell shade, Mitchell is absolutely one of the best scorers the Jazz have ever seen, but an elite playmaker he is not. He can absolutely make the right play, but his passing abilities were not why Cleveland paid the amount they did to get him from Utah.
George may never ascend to that level Mitchell has, but that's okay, because the Jazz would be more than happy to see him turn into a player of the caliber that Williams was in his heyday. Their careers arcs are definitely not the same - by Williams' second year, the Jazz were in the Western Conference Finals - but if George continues to improve from here on out, that should give Utah confidence in his long-term ceiling.
It might be steep to expect him to turn into Williams, but the similarities are there. George has shown that he can take over games like Williams used to. Just look at what he did to Boston not too long ago.
While Nurkic may have been the one to put the Celtics away, George was the one who kept the Jazz in the game. That's the kind of play that gets those comparisons to the likes of Williams (even though the way he dominated Boston was Mitchell-like).
George is ironing out his inefficiency problems
While George looked better as a scorer and a faciliatator to start the season, his playmaking has trailed off a bit, as he's gone from 9.2 assists to 4.8 from October to November. However, his shooting efficiencies have gone up in that same time frame, going from 40.6% from the field and 25.8% from three to 45.5% and 30% respectively.
It's a short time frame, but it shows that the blossoming Jazz star is starting to get more comfortable as a shooter. If George can get the best of both worlds before the season ends, suddenly the Williams comparisons won't look too outlandish.
Utah has been searching for their next superstar since blowing it up in 2022. Many had lost faith in George coming into this season, but he's reviving the optimism around him. If he proves to be better efficiency-wise, while proving he can further ascend as a playmaker, he may turn into Utah's most untouchable player by season's end.