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What kind of player can Keyonte George become?

Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 105-104 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.

1. Call timeout or not call timeout?

Collin Sexton hit a layup that would have won the game for the Jazz – but it just came too late. In the seconds before, Will Hardy had called a timeout. Here is the piece:

“Collin started backing away, dribbling backwards, and I started taking a timeout. It’s obviously loud. The hope would be to have a few seconds more than 2.1, but yes, it is difficult,” Hardy said. “I told (Collin) in the locker room that I robbed him of a moment at the end of the game. But you put yourself in situations like this, we practice these situations, you have clues and things you’re looking for. It didn’t go according to our expectations.”

I tend to agree. As I watched from the stadium, I thought the game was a mess, that Sexton had started moving sideways instead of forward – and I also started verbally calling a timeout. Putting on a play seemed like a better solution to me.

But then it just took too long to call the timeout, and by the time it was called, Sexton was already on his way to the rim. Now I think Anthony Davis reacts to this play differently when there’s no timeout – we’ve seen him make a lot of game-winning shots in his career. But regardless, Sexton’s decline is a pretty good scenario for the Jazz.

My only real criticism of Hardy on the play is to say that I wish he was closer to the action when the timeout was called. He stood within the NBA-assigned hash mark where coaches can stand, but a slight cheat would have been appropriate there – he stood near midcourt to be ready to call the timeout more quickly if the situation called for it .

However, the timeout after the game was even worse. (Video is above.)

It looks like the Jazz thought the Lakers wouldn’t switch — Sexton said the Lakers defended the game differently than expected — and tried to get Sexton to drop the ball off a screen… and the Lakers just switched and killed the ball plays right there. Ideally there would be a better second option, but it was also Brice Sensabaugh’s first inbounds at the end of a game.

Overall, the timeout that cost the Jazz the game was more of a funny problem than a real one. While the optics don’t look great when Hardy takes a timeout that directly leads to a loss as a Jazz tank, it’s difficult to criticize the process too much.

2. Keyonte Georges turnovers, defense

Keyonte George has had five turnovers or more in four of the last five games and six tonight. Here is the video of all six:

Look, that’s not close. Dribbling the ball off your foot isn’t great. Those passes to Walker Kessler and John Collins are miles away. You even want to avoid color loss.

The other problem for George was how often the Lakers, particularly LeBron James, targeted him on defense. And at first he simply didn’t approach the issue with the necessary effort.

This is the kind of opportunity kids dream about before they become NBA players. LeBron James is unleashed on you in the fourth quarter of a close home game… and George didn’t even really put up any resistance or show any toughness. It’s just hard.

However, the Jazz decided to allow this move to continue. Why?

“We made the decision… ‘We’ll do the same thing, and you’ll do it better.’ Because getting to where we want to go is a moment of long-term thinking. There’s no hiding in the playoffs. There’s no hiding in the NBA Finals. “We’re not going to build a defense system that’s just about protecting you from danger,” Hardy said.

In other words, because it was a development opportunity. I support this decision. And I think George did a better job after that time off, especially in pushing James to help him. It wasn’t a good defense, but it was passable.

3. Keyonte George’s career

Okay, so let’s get to the actual conversation.

Overall, I’ve seen enough that I don’t believe Keyonte George can succeed as a ball-in-hand point guard. He’s too far away there. The turnovers alone probably mean he won’t be able to have the ball in his hands as often. But it’s not just that: He’s slow to build an offense and doesn’t seem to motivate his teammates to play great games. In his defense, he had never done that in his career before coming to the Jazz.

The problem is that it’s also difficult to push him into the two-man defense because he has no penetration when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands; There is no defensive effect, no rebound effect. He does have catching and shooting skills, but the other areas of basketball are not strengths. And if you just want to shoot as a starting shooting guard, you have to be really good at shooting. JJ Redick good.

The first obvious Jazz comparison is Trey Burke, who also had an extremely poor second year on his way out of the NBA. Here are the two’s second year stats.

Keyonte George (2025-2025) vs. Trey Burke (2015-2015): Per 100 Possessions chart
Rk player Old Out of To FG FGA FG% 2P 2PA 2P% 3P 3PA 3P% FT Free trade agreement FT% TS% Bullet DRB TRB BRANCH STL BLACK TOV PF PTS ORtg DRtg
1 Trey Burke 22 2014-15 2014-15 8.6 23.3 .368 5.7 14.3 .400 2.9 9.1 .318 2.5 3.4 .752 .5 0.7 4.0 4.7 7.6 1.5 0.3 2.9 2.8 22.6 100 108
2 Keyonte George 21 2024-25 2024-25 7.8 21.2 .371 3.7 9.0 .411 4.1 12.2 .340 3.6 4.6 .782 .5 0.8 3.7 4.5 8.9 1.1 0.1 4.8 2.9 23.5 102 123

Yes, these numbers are pretty similar across the board. George has 1-2% higher shooting percentages, but turnovers are much worse.

However, Burke found his way back into the league for a few years, as a bench backup on some Luka Doncic Dallas teams. I think that’s a possible outcome for George at this level – a point guard who simply takes the open threes and inserts them into a team with a primary ball handler at a different position.

But even then, Burke was a replacement-level guy. The Mavs soon replaced him.

George is not hopeless. He’s still 21. He works hard. He watches a lot of movies. He cares.

But you have to hope that George continues to develop in all facets and becomes the player the Jazz thought they were getting when they signed him. He just has to get a lot better.

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