Keyonte George shakes off rust, nerves to impress in first summer league game

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Jazz rookie Keyonte George didn't run from the fact that he had some jitters on Monday.

"I mean, 19 years old, playing against NBA level talent; this is a little bit different from college, for sure," George said.

Add in the fact that he hadn't played five-on-five basketball since the end of the college season, and it wasn't too big of a surprise that George had some rust to shake off in Utah's 95-85 loss to Oklahoma City in the first game of the Salt Lake City Summer League.

He had three early fouls, struggled from the free-throw line, and didn't get his first bucket until the second quarter. So why did he have such a bright smile after the game?

Things turned around quickly for him in the second half.

His drives into the lane that ended in forced shots were more controlled; the passes that weren't quite on target turned to assists; and his aggressive defense that led to whistles were leading into steals. Once the nerves left, he was brilliant, especially for a rookie in his first NBA game.

By the end of the game, George led the Jazz with 18 points and added five rebounds, four assists and three steals — it led to a Utah comeback that at least brought the crowd alive late in the fourth quarter.

"Second half, started to pick it up, started to figure out where I was gonna be successful in, and I feel like you've all seen that," George said.

So where was he successful?

George quickly pointed to the pick-and-roll offense.

"Either the big was up or the big was in drop, (and I was) able to get to my floater or hit the pocket pass," he said. "I think that's where my bread and butter was in this game."

He broke the paint with relative ease, and was impressive at pushing in transition (both for himself and his teammates). And he proved to be much more effective on the defensive end than his time in college. Maybe his most eye-catching sequence came when he intercepted a ball after a great defensive read, and then threaded a bounce pass between a couple defenders for an easy bucket on the other end.

"Just seeing him out there, talking and pointing, kind of helping guys get into the right spots," Jazz summer league coach Evan Bradds said. "I was very impressed by that overall awareness. We, obviously, switched a lot, and they're a big team, right? So he got switched on to some bigger guys, and I thought his fight was great. And that's exactly what I was hoping to see, and I'm more than happy with it."

In summer league, teams are looking for flashes from rookies, or things they will be able to thrive at against full-on NBA teams. George had plenty of those moments; and maybe the biggest reason for optimism was that it came against a team that was stacked with true-blue NBA players.

Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Jaylin Williams and Tre Mann are all expected to be in the Thunder's rotation next season. Jalen Williams and Holmgren are thought to be important pieces for the team.

And once George kicked off some nerves and some rust, he showed he could thrive on the same court.

"First game, probably a lot going on, right? Probably nervous," Bradds said. "But I thought he relaxed a little bit, and I thought, especially, in the second half, he just played free. He moved the ball up the court, he got into a little rhythm, took some shots that I thought were really good shots, and he just got a little bit better as the game went on."

So what's George's next goal after his successful debut?

"Win," he said.

He'll get a chance to do that on Wednesday when summer league resumes.

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