Keyonte George had a career-high 43 points in the Utah Jazz’s win against the Minnesota Timberwolves last night. A full-circle moment when he was drafted by Utah in 2023, using one of the picks the Jazz received in the Rudy Gobert trade that same year.
Keyonte George went from just a pick to a star player
There’s something incredibly poetic about Keyonte George’s breakout season, which culminated in a career-night performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who once traded away the draft capital that brought him to Utah. What felt like a throwaway piece in the Rudy Gobert trade has instead turned into one of the most exciting young talents in the NBA.
George has come a very long way since being drafted 16th overall by the Jazz in the 2023 draft. His first two seasons have been up and down, to say the least. He showed flashes of what we saw last night, but ultimately his inconsistent play, poor shooting percentage and lack of defense meant that Coach Hardy and the Jazz tended to get rid of George instead of building around him.
Fast forward to this season, and Keyonte George is averaging 24.0 points, 6.8 assists and four rebounds per game (career highs in all categories) while shooting 45.6 percent from the field. He’s a leading candidate for Most Improved Player of the Year and one of the biggest bright spots this season for a team focused on refueling and rebuilding.
The context of last night’s match is perhaps the most interesting. This team, full of young assets built largely from the blockbuster trades of Gobert and Mitchell, went head-to-head with one of those trade partners. That package included multiple first-round picks. Those choices were probably all in their late teens or twenties, and the franchise knew it at the time.
For a player who was once dismissed as an afterthought midway through the first round in a trade surrounding a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate, this game marks a full-circle moment. Not only has George put up just 43 points in his career, but he has shown that the unknown can come back in many of these tough trades and burn you as they turn into real players.
This Utah Jazz team is nowhere near the caliber of this version of the Minnesota Timberwolves. These teams are going in two very different directions this season. However, last night was a glimpse of a bright future for Utah, led by Keyonte George and Ace Bailey (who had 20 points in the game), that could trouble the top teams in the conference for seasons to come.
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