Jazz's Will Hardy Issues Bold Statement on Keyonte George

The Utah Jazz made an interesting change to their rotation mid-way through their 2024-25 season, effectively moving sophomore guard Keyonte George to the second unit after spending the majority of his NBA career as a routine starter in the lineup.

However, it's been a decision to pay a bit of dividends for both the Jazz and George's progression. The second-year guard has seen increases in his points, rebounds, assists, and shooting percentages since moving to the bench. An eye-catching move at first has now turned a corner to being a major positive in the Baylor product's development moving forward.

In the eyes of head coach Will Hardy, it's a process all going according to plan, and it's one George himself understands as well.

"Keyonte understands that this is a part of his journey –– that moving him to the bench is not meant as a punishment," Hardy said after Friday's loss vs. the Boston Celtics. "He's obviously still playing a lot of minutes. It's about establishing a different mindset for him. I think that on the whole, he's handled it great... [Development] is not a straight line going up, it goes up and down, but you hope it's trending up, and I think that's how Keyonte has handled it."

The praise came after another solid showing from George in Utah's latest meeting vs. the Celtics. While it came in a loss, the Jazz guard was the team's second-leading scorer with 19 points, alongside his four rebounds, seven assists, and much-improved efforts on the defensive end.

"Not every day has been perfect. Not every game has been a masterpiece," Hardy continued in his presser. "There's still pockets where you want improvement in some of those areas, but I would say on the whole, I've been really proud of how he's handled it."

Like the Jazz's campaign as a whole, it hasn't been perfect, and there still lie a few steps to go to get George's game to its aspired ceiling, but he's clearly motivated to put the work in to do so.

Even if it comes as a member of the second unit as it has during the second half of this season, the 21-year-old has continuously proven to be one of the most appealing pieces to watch in Utah's rebuild.

Looking ahead to the Jazz's final 11 games of the season, there's a chance George finishes out the year on the second unit as Isaiah Collier and Collin Sexton handle the starting backcourt reigns as they have in recent weeks, but that doesn't mean we should expect the Baylor product to slow down.

George has averaged 19.6 points with 2.6 threes made per game in his past five, paired with an impressive impact on the defensive end with 1.2 steals a night –– which could be a sign of how to expect things to finish out for his second year in Salt Lake City.

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