Keyonte George takes nearly seven 3-pointers per game. However, he struggles to make them. Introducing Baylor’s combo guard, who plays an analytical game and has all the tools to become a solid NBA guard.
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Basic
- Position: Combo guard
- From: Lewisville, TX
- Current team: Baylor
- Height: 6-foot-4
- Weight: 185 pounds
- Wingspan: A plus wingspan
Stats
- 28.6 minutes per game in 2022-23, featuring in 33 matches (all starts.)
- Averaged 15.3 points on 37.6% shooting, with 4.2 boards, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game.
- Took 6.9 3-pointers per game, averaging 33.8% of makes.
- Shot 42.4% on all 2-point attempts.
- Got to the charity stripe 4.5 times per game, making 3.6 of attempts (79.3%.)
- Averaged 1 offensive rebound per game.
Strengths
- A combo guard is desired by NBA teams nowadays.
- Strong build and body frame and he finishes well through contact, is a good athlete so able to jump off one of both feet and has good body control too.
- He can light it up in the half-court and loves hitting difficult shots, he gets shots off with little space from the defender.
- He had a good say on Baylor’s offense with 15.3 points per game and can heat it up quickly when he’s in rhythm.
- Has a quick release and sets his feet quickly to be able to shoot as quickly as possible and this helps him off of screens.
- Good free-throw shooter, making 3.6 of 4.5 attempts per game, does a good job getting to the line often and makes 79.3% of shots when he’s there, which represents good mechanics and touch.
- He’s quick when dribbling with the ball and always stays under control when picking up and slowing down his speed, great at changing direction and getting into the paint with no hesitation (hence the amount of free-throws attempted.)
- Uses both hands when driving, which can make him unpredictable for defenders and finishes well at the rim with either hand.
- Can play on or off ball and that speaks to his combo guard ability, orchestrating the offense as a point guard or getting in position as a shooting guard.
- He can pass the ball too, which means he’s a solid point guard at his level and threads the needle at times and makes impressive lead passes.
- A very smart player at reading double teams and avoids trapping schemes too.
- Defensively, he stays engaged and uses active hands to defend on-ball and sometimes gets stuck in screens but uses a lot of effort to fight over the screens.
Weaknesses
- His shooting consistency has led some scouts to believe he’s a little bit of a ‘hero ball’ player, and sometimes takes too many shots when the next play should be to get an easy bucket. Plays very analytically which can be fine, but he tries to get a lot of paint buckets and 3-point shots, I wonder if he could add more of a pick-and-roll, reject the roll and shoot a midrange-type shot to his repertoire.
- Still room to tighten up and improve his body, sometimes he lacks athleticism and explosion.
- Very streaky player at times, when he’s hot from deep he’s unstoppable, and when he’s cold it’s very difficult to swallow the number of misses.
- While showing good maturity as a passer, he can still improve it if he wants to be a full-time combo guard, as he only averaged 2.8 assists on the season.
- Quite turnover happy too, which is easily fixable with some turnovers being silly like driving into too many defenders, but still something to think about with George.
- Despite putting in a lot of effort defensively, teams will still target him at his height.
Clips
Below are some clips of Keyonte George’s game at Baylor.
Draft projection
George is projected all over the place, to be honest. Some mocks have the Baylor combo guard in the top 10 of the NBA Draft, while some have him as low as 20. George may just be a lottery pick at 15, which is where the consensus seems to be, but don’t be surprised if he moves up to the top 10 because teams like the look of him and his upside. His efficiency is sort of a good problem to have because he’s smart enough to understand the best quality shots are from deep and in the paint, but he is someone who needs to improve as a shot creator for others, and his turnovers. But, there is a real amount of upside to George as an NBA prospect. He has all the tools.
