Is Keyonte George the future of the Utah Jazz? Is he a potential asset to the future of the squad? A bench player with something to offer? Will he even be on the team in four years? All these things are questions that have been prompted by some fans over the last few months. All of those are fair to ask, as while George has tremendous potential, it's still just potential and not truly talent yet.
George as a scorer is ineffective and as a defender is downright terrible, but his explosiveness and ability to pass have fans wondering about what he could look like if he can shore up his weaknesses, a possibility that very easily could happen. Sometimes a player does get better and improve upon the weaknesses in his game. Other times he can't. Right now it's too early to say for sure how much George will improve, if at all, but the opinions on his play have been wildly different depending on who you ask.
We've spoken before about how former Jazz coach Gordie Chiesa thinks George is a bench guy, and contemplated his ability to contend with the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murrays of the NBA over the next three or four years. A fair question.
Yet, there are others who outright believe George is an NBA-starting caliber guard already. Lake Hale of SLCDunk described George as "a young King", going on to write;
"This is an obvious yes and a good excuse to just celebrate the young king. Keyonte is shooting 42% from the left corner 3, 47% on his driving floater shot, and shooting 55% from shots less than 5 feet from the basket. If you’re ever having a bad day read these stats and touch some grass, it’ll help I promise."
Hale thinks George is playing tremendously, yet, his usage of George's stats is selective at best, and ignores the highly inconsistent nights he has.
And it's that difference in opinions that should have fans worried. If you have a player who seems to draw such drastic comparisons, it's fair to say he isn't as good as many wish he was. That said, he's also not some bust in the making. He's unfinished, but unfinished also means 'not very good'. George isn't a winning basketball player and is so bad on defense that if the team wasn't tanking, he'd be unplayable, but with time and coaching, George may be able to turn things around.
George is far from a finished player, but someone with so much uncertainty around them should not be a (or one of the) foundational pieces of the team. If an upgrade is out there, and it requires George to be traded, you make that trade.