Kyshawn George’s rookie season may have gone overlooked with his fellow Wizards’ rookies. George was taken with the 24th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. His now NBA teammate Carlton Carrington began receiving praise before the season even began. Let’s take a look at George’s rookie preview for this upcoming season.
NBA Rookie Preview: Kyshawn George
Prospect Profile Of George
George is originally from Switzerland but played his “high school” basketball in France. For college, he chose to attend the University of Miami for his lone freshman season. Miami underperformed this past season, finishing 15-17 despite having a talented roster on paper. George was played somewhat sporadically to begin the season, but he fully gained the trust of the staff going into conference play. Once he established his rhythm and gained starts, George showed he was one of the higher-upside freshmen in college basketball. He finished the season averaging 7.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game.
This delayed start was a large reason George was a late riser to NBA draft boards. He rose quickly though mostly due to upside and a coveted archetype. George is a six-foot-eight jumbo guard who’s shown playmaking upside combined with great shooting ability. He shot the ball at 40.8 percent from three on just over four attempts per game.
Someone with playmaking and shooting ability at six-foot-eight will always makes scouts excited. The Wizards have the time and patience to allow George to develop properly.
Team Fit On Wizards
As mentioned earlier, the Wizards are in full rebuild mode and have apparently committed to giving their rookies opportunity. This bodes great for George’s overall rookie season. Fellow rookies Carrington and Alex Sarr are averaging 24.0 and 24.7 minutes respectively. Sarr has started all three games, while Carrington started the first two outings. George is right there with them at 22.7 minutes per game while coming off the bench.
Granted, injuries to Malcolm Brogdon and Saddiq Bey have allowed for this amount of opportunity. However, George is firmly in the rotation alongside other young backcourt players. Through three games, George is winning minutes against guys like Corey Kispert, Jared Butler, and Johnny Davis.
Predictions For George’s Rookie Season
So, with George getting so much opportunity early on, accolades should be easier right? Well, not exactly. I was one who thought George was more a long-term play based on his need to develop physically and adjust to NBA speed/strength. While he’s playing consistently, this thought seems to have some truth to it.
George is 1-11 from three point range and shooting an abysmal 18.8 percent from the field overall. He’s also averaging 4.3 fouls per game, signaling that he may be just a step slow on defense. Now, this doesn’t mean that he can’t turn it around, especially if he keeps receiving heavy minutes. However, I don’t think George will crack the All-Rookie teams this year like his fellow rookie teammates could. Second team isn’t out of the question, but it just seems George needs to develop more before being an efficient producer at the NBA level.
