Analyst Delivers Strong Claim on Jazz's Keyonte George

The Utah Jazz haven't had the most optically appealing season, but it's a campaign that's still had its bright moments throughout the chaos.

Among those bright spots has been the recent development of second-year guard Keyonte George. After emerging as a centerpiece of the Jazz's rebuild during his rookie season, the Baylor product has continued as a strong offensive generator with bundles of potential as he moves forward in his young career.

Yet, his fit within the Jazz's rotation has shifted a bit throughout his first two seasons. George has started over half of his career games since being drafted. But, most recently, he's been shifted to the second unit as a prime initiator off the bench in favor of Isaiah Collier's hot stretch, who's been elevated as the team's starting one.

Since then, he's had some impressive highlights, the most notable being his 30-point outing off the bench in a win over the Houston Rockets –– his second-highest scoring mark of the season.

Now, some around the league have seen George's future fit potentially shift from a hopeful backcourt starter at the one to a full-time second-unit contributor.

In The Athletic's latest NBA power rankings where the Jazz landed as the 29th-ranked team in the league, Law Murray also dished an interesting thought on George's future with the Jazz.

"This is the NBA’s worst defense, but Will Hardy is continuing to find moments of development," Murray said. "The latest breakthrough was on Saturday, where Keyonte George outscored the entire Rockets bench by himself. Whatever the next step is in Utah’s rebuilding project, it certainly has a future second-unit creator in George."

George has certainly made his mark on the second unit, but it makes for an interesting question of where his long-term fit in the rotation could lie.

He's versatile enough to fill in on or off the ball in the backcourt, emerging as an intriguing fit alongside Collier as the primary ball-handler. However, the pairing's defensive ability could be a major limitation to their ceiling –– and for a team already dead last in defensive prowess, that's not an ideal situation for anyone involved.

Collier and George's fit this season has also been a bit questionable as is. In the 405 minutes the two have appeared alongside one another in the lineup, the pairing has a lowly 109.4 offensive rating and 121.0 defensive rating to show for it.

For perspective, as a team, Utah's league-worst defensive rating is 119.5 –– making George's and Collier's defensive combination less than inspiring. A 109.4 offensive rating would also rank as a bottom-five offensive unit in the entire NBA.

Simply put, the Jazz's backcourt chemistry has some work lying ahead of them to propose an appealing long-term fit with one another.

Thankfully, the post-All-Star stretch presents a perfect opportunity for Utah and its young core to work through those hurdles, hopefully meshing together with a better connection. Through that, George's, as well as Collier's future in the rebuild process will likely get clearer with time.

Moving into the Jazz's final stretch of the season, keep an eye on how coach Will Hardy sorts through his backcourt rotation, as some potential experimentation could be on the horizon.

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