Keyonte George’s breakthrough says the quiet part out loud about the direction of Jazz

When Keyonte George first showed signs of taking a leap of faith this season, the next question was whether he could keep it up or if this was just a tease. Now that the calendar year is almost over, not only has it been the first, but it has only continued to ascend since then. This shows that while many fans won’t agree, the Jazz won’t tank because George is too good to let that happen.

The NBA revealed a pretty telling statistic about how good George has been. These are not just impressive numbers. They’re All-Star numbers.

George has truly been the difference maker for the Jazz. While Lauri Markkanen playing at an All-Star level is a nice change of pace from last season, it’s not exactly a surprise since he’s done it before. Georg is a different story.

If he remained the same player he was last season, the Jazz would likely be back in the tank game, even with Markkanen’s efforts. With George playing at an All-Star level, the Jazz are too good to tank. Take, for example, the Jazz’s overtime win over the Mavericks. The Jazz’s other youngsters showed up, but without George it wouldn’t even have been a game.

There’s no doubt that George is a building block for the Jazz’s future, so the smartest move for them is to develop him further. Trying to hold back a 22-year-old budding star like him in hopes of getting a better pick could potentially stunt his growth.

So that means the Jazz won’t be tanking, which they promised they wouldn’t be back in the summer. George has shown that he is too good to let them do this. The pro-tankers may hate that, but there’s no reason to mess with a good thing just because it might keep Utah from getting another good thing.

So how good can the Jazz be?

The main reason why some Jazz fans are frustrated with this course of action is that if they continue down this path, they will be lining up to give Oklahoma City their pick. The secondary reason is that Jazz fans saw this in the Markkanen era from 2022 to 2024 and hate being in no man’s land.

However, this feels different. George has only gotten better as the season has gone on, as his shooting averages have now increased, which was really the only part of his game that kept him from reaching an All-Star level. As a result, the play-offs are certainly not out of the question.

The Jazz may miss out again, but this time it feels like they really have the potential to be something special as they are currently built. It appears Bailey’s time is definitely coming, and pending any surprises, Walker Kessler will return to action next season.

It would be great for the Jazz to have their cake and eat it too by adding a gold lottery pick, but George becoming a star right before our eyes should make fans very excited about what’s to come.