The Utah Jazz haven't had that great of a start to the 2023-24 NBA season. They are near the bottom of the standings in the Western Conference with a record of 2-7, only above the 1-6 Memphis Grizzlies. It's supposed to be a rebuilding/retooling/revamping, whatever you want to call it, year for the Jazz though. While they had strong play from Walker Kessler prior to him being sidelined, one storyline to watch for the Jazz though is the emergence of rookie guard Keyonte George.

George was a mid-first round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, but he had lottery talent and has been a bright spot for the Jazz so far. He began the season coming off the bench, but Jazz head coach Will Hardy recently moved him into the starting lineup as the team's starting point guard.

Keyonte George will hold on to the Jazz starting point guard spot

Keyonte George had a blistering NBA Summer League for the Jazz. He played both in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas and in a total of six games he averaged 18.7 points per game, 3.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals with splits of 45.7 percent shooting from the field, 38.6 percent shooting from the three point line and 75 percent shooting from the free throw line.

His momentum didn't quite carry over to the preseason though. In five preseason games he averaged 10.4 points per game, 1.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists with splits of 32.6 percent shooting from the field, 28 percent shooting from the three point line and 77.3 percent shooting from the free throw line.

Keyonte George Jazz

What did stand out though for George in both Summer League and preseason was his playmaking ability. When he was in college at Baylor, he was scorer first and foremost. Coming into the NBA he was projected as being a shooting guard. What he's shown though his he has a little more combo guard to his game.

After coming off the bench for the Jazz' first eight games of the season, Will Hardy moved George into the starting lineup at point guard. Although the Jazz ultimately lost that game against the Indiana Pacers, George showed that he's capable of running point guard at the NBA level.

His final numbers for that game were seven points, nine assists and only one turnover. He struggled shooting from the field going only 3-8 (37.5 percent) overall and 1-3 (33.3 percent) from three point range. That's besides the point though. The main takeaway was his nine assists and one turnover. That's more efficient than any of the other Jazz point guards have been this season.

Through the Jazz' first nine games of the season, George has been averaging 7.3 points per game, 2.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists with splits of 42.1 percent shooting from the field, 33.3 percent shooting from the three point line and 70 percent shooting from the free throw line. He only had one game so far where he scored in double figures and that was 12 points on Oct. 28 against the Phoenix Suns.

But from the get-go, George has been a good playmaker for the Jazz even before he was placed in the starting lineup. He's registered less than three assists in only three of the Jazz' first nine games of the year. Obviously it's only one game and he needs a bigger sample size before declaring him the point guard of the future. But so far, the signs have been very encouraging.