Jazz's Keyonte George Shares One Huge Expectation for Year 3

With the 2024-25 season in the rear-view mirror for the Utah Jazz, the turbulence from this past campaign can finally be put behind this roster, with eyes focused on how things can improve heading into next year.

It's a big summer for this Jazz young core leading into next year, as the group will be looking for some strong strides in their development to move the arrow forward for the 2025-26 season from their 17-win results from their most recent output.

However, for guys like Keyonte George, the improvements for next season won't only be expected surrounding a step up in on-court production, but some big mental aspects as well.

During his end-of-season presser, George sounded off on what he feels will be expected of him going into year three, with the main aspect centering around one focus: competitiveness.

"I think the main thing is going to be the competitiveness; competing every single night, competing 82 times a night," George said. "I think that's probably what's going to be expected of me. Will [Hardy], we talk about it all the time: the offense is going to take care of itself, defensively, got to get better. I just think the overall compete part is what's going to be expected every time. Just because I know I can make the reads, I can do whatever's needed from me on the offensive end, it's just about: can you compete every single night?"

George, like any young player, still has some strides to make in his development to cement him as a long-term piece in the Jazz rebuild, despite showing nice upside as a scorer and versatile piece in Utah's backcourt. His efficiency, turnover issues, and defensive ability are all areas that should be big focuses for the 21-year-old heading into this summer.

And while George will do his fair share of on-court work and training throughout the extensive summer, showing out as a competitor each and every night might be the biggest priority the Jazz coaching staff wants to see in his third season.

"It's a long season," George said. "You don't know how it's going to go. We talked about it these last ten, 15 games. For us young guys, that's the next 15, that ain't the last. All 29 teams are watching. So, I just think being able to compete at a high level every single night, I feel like it'll take me over that hump, for sure."

In a league facing top-level, superstar talent on a nightly basis, it's crucial for the Jazz to compete throughout the entire stretch of the season to not only get better, but to get the wins to pile up in the standings.

This season was a bit of an anomaly for the Jazz and that mindset. The team showed no shame in tanking down the second half stretch of the season to maximize their lottery odds and get the best chances to build an even stronger young core to move forward with.

Yet, as the rebuild continues to ensue for next season and onward, George and the rest of the roster will have to compete hard every single night, especially in a tough Western Conference loaded with talent, to finally get over that hump for the next step of the process.

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