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SALT LAKE CITY — John Collins was surprised.
Early in the Utah Jazz training camp, the combo forward set a down screen to get a teammate open. But almost as soon as he released from the screen and cut to the basket, the ball was at his chest.
The passer: rookie Keyonte George.
"I was like, 'Damn, he's there with me mentally,' because it wasn't a play, it was just an action — a read off the play — and he was already there ahead of me," Collins said. "So I was like, 'OK, I gotta respect his mentals a little bit more and be ready.'"
The common thought around George entering June's NBA draft can be summed up by this scouting report from The Athletic's Sam Vecenie: "His game is predicated upon getting buckets. … Don't love his passing. Posted a negative assist-to-turnover ratio and hoisted some wild shots that led to marked inefficiency."
The narrative wasn't unfounded. After all, George averaged 2.8 assists in his lone season at Baylor and 2.9 turnovers as he actively hunted for his own shots.
Through his first 10 games as a pro — and especially his first two as a starter — this much is clear: George is not that player. He isn't just a combo guard simply masquerading as a point man, he's a legitimate lead playmaker.
In his first two starts, George has recorded 20 assists to just three turnovers, and he leads all rookies in total assists and assists per game.
"Is that good?" Jazz coach Will Hardy asked, rhetorically.
While that type of production has been a surprise to some, it hasn't been entirely unexpected for the Jazz's decision makers.
As Utah watched George on film, his feel and pace for the game stood out. He was comfortable with the ball in his hands, and knew how to manipulate defenses. Throw in the fact that he made passes with both hands and all the makings of an NBA point guard were there.
Once the Jazz saw him in open gym and in summer league that feeling only grew stronger.
"You started to really see the passing, which we thought was there — maybe not at this level — but once we saw his ability to sort of get the ball where it needs to go based on his size and ball handling and all those things," Hardy said. "It was sort of a no-brainer that playing the one is where we think his future is."
His teammates are already believers.
"It's just great to see him make almost every pass there in the book, naturally within the flow of the game," Collins said. "It's really promising."
Recently, Lauri Markkanen glanced to his left and to his right, trying to determine if he could really say how he felt. The postgame locker room in Memphis was filled with just enough unfamiliar faces that he opted against it.
"I'm trying not to swear, but he's (add your own, per Markkanen's instructions, explicit adverb here) nice," Markkanen said.
It hasn't taken long for George to earn the respect of his teammates. Collins smiles when thinking about some of the passes, Markkanen finds a new way to praise him each time he's asked about the rookie, and Jordan Clarkson was quick to highlight George's poise.
He's just 10 games into his NBA career but the team already trusts him.
IMG Academy basketball director Brian Nash has seen that happen before, too.
George transferred to the Florida AAU power ahead of his senior season of high school. By that point, George was already viewed as a top-10 player in the country and was one of the nation's most-coveted recruits. The team was already full of stars — and two of them, Jarace Walker and Jett Howard, were taken ahead of George in the 2023 draft.
George didn't come in and try to immediately make it his team; he tried to fit in.
"I give him the biggest amount of credit because he didn't come in here and try to take over," Nash said. "He was playing with guys that had been here for two and three years before. He put his time in and he waited until he gained the respect of the team and the group. And when he needed to take over, he took over."
A similar thing is happening in Utah. The Jazz badly needed a table setter, and George has, thus far, filled that role. Utah's offense has been 8 points better per 100 possessions since George has entered the starting lineup as the rookie piles up assist after assist.
"I don't expect him to go every two games having 20 assists and three turnovers, but right now he's just showing a poise at that spot, and a pace of play that seems to be beneficial for our whole team," Hardy said.
