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SALT LAKE CITY — Things came quickly for Keyonte George during his rookie season.
He jumped out last July, averaging 21.2 points and six assists in five summer league games — including a 33-point, 10-assist breakout in his first game in Las Vegas. Before he had played 10 NBA games, he was named a starter.
It was fast.
Now, as he enters his second year of summer league play (which begins Monday in the Salt Lake City Summer League) he's trying to slow down — literally.
"A lot of times last year coming off pick-and-roll, I was going too fast, not being able to let the reads develop," he said.
This Utah Jazz's summer league team is unique. Usually, the July games are reserved for rookies, two-way players, or guys trying to find their way into the league. For Utah, it's essentially a training camp in July.
Utah's roster features Walker Kessler, George, Taylor Hendricks, and Brice Sensabaug, and Utah's three recent draft picks in Cody Williams, Isaiah Collier and Kyle Filipowski.
Oh, and then there is Darius Bazley and Kenneth Lofton, who are on non-guaranteed deals with the Jazz.
That provides a chance to build some chemistry and to show how new skills translate into a real game.
"I'm looking at summer league as a big opportunity as a team to really gel," George said. "We have a lot of guys who are going to be on the real team."
For George, it's slowing the game down. He knows what he did last year, quickly becoming the talk of the league in Vegas with a couple of electrifying performances. He doesn't want to duplicate those performances; instead, he wants to take inspiration from the guards he saw in the playoffs.
He wants to be more patient in pick-and-roll situation, avoiding a quick trigger when he comes off a screen and waiting for the right play to develop.
"I'm looking forward to showing how slow the game is for me, how easy it's gonna look, and just how I'm able to manipulate the game — play the game within the game," he said.
Having an experienced pick-and-roll partner in Kessler should help, too.
After a rocky second season, the Jazz wanted Kessler to get more reps this summer to build on going into the season.
"I'm going in with the mentality of like, I'm going to be dominant, I'm going to show what I've been working on," he said.
So what has he been working on?
The Jazz will test his playmaking abilities in split action — when players come together and cut in different directions — similar to how the Jazz used Kelly Olynyk.
"I'm working on a one-dribble pickup throw and just repping it, getting to where I can hit that doorknob," he said, motioning to the door in the back of the rim.
Kessler has also used the offseason to get stronger and improve his muscle mass, and the team wants to see him take another step as a defender.
"He knows he's a very good defender, but I try to remind him, and the staff tries to remind him, that you can do even more," Jazz summer league coach Sean Sheldon said.
Hendricks has also bulked up and the Jazz are eager to see how that will help him defensively in games. The team sees him, along with rookie Williams, as two players who can be elite wing defenders.
As for the rookies, they will get their chance — even with a more experienced roster around them. Sheldon said he won't play Kessler, George and Co. in all of the games (especially with three games in three nights in Salt Lake City), which will open plenty of minutes for Utah's newest additions.
Will either have a coming-out party like George did last year?
"The biggest thing for us, like we just want to see the effort level there," Sheldon said.
