The Washington Wizards may not command your attention when you scan the NBA standings and find them sitting at 1-7 on the season, but it takes only a few minutes of watching them on the court to see the abundance of promise on this roster. Through the first eight games, none of those promising young players has demanded our attention quite like Kyshawn George.
The 21-year-old former 24th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft has emerged as an early candidate for Most Improved Player. After averaging 8.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.0 steals per game on 37.2% from the field in 26.5 minutes per game as a rookie, few people expected George to come into the 2025-26 season and lead the Wizards' offense in the way that he has.
Through eight games, George is averaging 16.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 53.2% from the field and playing 31.1 minutes per game. His 21.3% usage rate is the third-highest among Washington's starters and puts him right on the same level as players like Amen Thompson, Ryan Rollins, and Aaron Gordon, which speaks to George's prominent role within the offense. A role that, this season, has also placed George as the hub of offense on the perimeter way more than he was last season.
Kyshawn George came into Wednesday night’s game against Boston fifth in the NBA in his frequency as a pick-and-roll ballhandler, being used in that role 41% of the time. Last season, he was asked to do that under 17% of the time.
"Growing up, I've always been a point guard," said the 6'8" George. "It's only been the last couple of years that I kind of transitioned to being able to play the wing. I always kept the point guard skills. I've always been able to read the game really well and just make the right decision from there. So they've given me the opportunity to run the pick and roll more, and I'm just taking advantage of it."
With George running the pick-and-roll, the Wizards average 1.06 points per possession, which is 22nd among all pick and roll ballhandlers in the NBA, just below Dyson Daniels and ahead of players like Julius Randle and Paolo Banchero. The Wizards score on 48% of the possessions where George is used as a pick-and-roll ballhander, and he ranks in the 80th percentile in the NBA for his effectiveness in that role.
Part of his success in the pick-and-roll game is due to his work in the offseason.
"He's getting in the paint more to put pressure on the rim," said Wizards head coach Brian Keefe. "Just the work that he's put in during the offseason on his game, but also his body, so he's been able to absorb contact and been able to attack more. It's been great."
George has good lateral quickness, but he's larger than most point guards, so he doesn't have the lightning-quick first step or shiftiness that smaller players might have. Being able to figure out the right angles to attack the basket at and also improve his ability to finish through contact has been instrumental for him.
"I definitely worked on [finishing through contact] this summer," admitted George. "I mean, I was working the whole summer, basically, and there are definitely strides I took in the weight room with just lifting weights in general, and getting stronger and using my body to the best of my ability."
With that stronger body and summer of work behind him, George has focused on being "super aggressive in general" this season. Through his first eight games, he is averaging almost 10 drives per game this season, after averaging just over four last year. He's also shooting 59.3% on those drives this year, with nearly 64% of his points overall coming when he drives to the basketball.
"It's definitely a confidence thing," explained George. "The coaches emphasized that I was showing flashes of it last year, but I think it's just taking a step in how aggressive I could be. I think there's even a bigger step to be taken, but just, you know, causing havoc offensively, being able to get into the paint, make the defense collapse, and then make the right read from there."
Making the right read was something that George feels he struggled with last year. Despite seeing himself as a "positionless" player in a league that is largely positionless, George went into the off-season determined to improve in his ability as a facilitator. Last year, in pick and roll situaitons specifically, George had a nearly 20% turnover rate. This season, he has cut that down to 16%. On drives in general, George has a 5.3% turnover rate this season, down from 7% last year. Overall, his assist rate this season is 20.4%, which is a sizable jump up from his 13.3% mark last year.
"We noticed last year I was getting into the paint, and I was kind of indecisive when I got in there," explained George before Wednesday's game. "I just worked on my decision-making once I got into the paint...I see myself as a creator, either for myself or the team, and just being able to get us a good shot every possession."
Sometimes, the good shot that the Wizards can get comes with George launching from beyond the arc. Last year, that was not such a beneficial strategy. George took 5.2 three-pointers per game last year but converted at just a 32.2% clip. It was yet another aspect of his game that George focused on during the off-season, and he has been shooting the lights out early on, knocking down an absurd 53.8% of his shots from deep while still taking 5.6 three-pointers per game.
George attributes that growth to "reps over the off-season, and also discipline. I'm kind of a feel shooter, and I'm just adding the discipline part to it. Being able to hold my follow-through to try to keep it as consistent as possible. Just digging into the details of shooting and being able to be super consistent with that."
The detail-oriented approach to his game has become a central focus for George. He uses the word "intentionality" often when he speaks and makes sure he has a clear purpose behind every action that he performs, even in a practice setting.
"It's just a lot of adjustments," he explained about his growth as a shooter, "and making sure I'm not taking any shot for granted. I'm making sure that I'm really sticking and putting in meaningful reps every time I shoot. Not necessarily staying five hours in the gym and shooting a gazillion shots. Being able to get maybe a smaller amount, but game reps with really high intentionality."
That detail-oriented mindset has carried over on the defensive side of the ball. After posting a 115.5 defensive rating last year, he has registered a 117.7 mark this year, which is 38th in all of basketball among starters. "He's really an all-around player," said Coach Keefe." You know, over a block a game, over a steal game. He just continues to make these incremental gains."
For George, the biggest factor in his defensive improvements this season has been from getting more reps. The more experience he has on the court, the more time he has to pay attention to the details of what his opponents are doing and use that to improve his own game.
"I have more experience," he said plainly when asked about his defensive growth. "I just know what kind of actions are going on. I know what players like to do...Just playing against them, you see more reps and experience. Then, watching the games or watching individual players, you learn a lot from what they want to do, and you could also add that to your personal game...Just that overall experience. And then, it's just trying to win the matchup every time on the floor, not letting anybody score easily. Just playing basketball at the end of the day."
Pride in aggressive defense is one of the hallmarks of this young Wizards team. Players like Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington, Khris Middleton, and Bilal Coulibaly all rank ahead of George in defensive rating so far this season. As the second-youngest team in the NBA, with an average age of 23.8 years old, the Wizards want to hound you on the perimeter, speed you up, and then take the ball and sprint down the court in the other direction. Heading into Wednesday's game, they are 3rd in the NBA in pace and have no intention of slowing down.
"We’re going to play with that pace because we think that’s going to lead to us being a successful team," said Coach Keefe. "We’re a pretty deep team. That’s hard to handle when we’re really moving the ball like that. You can see that, at times. It’s got to get more consistent. That’s what we’re trying to work on every day to grow for our team.”
That path for growth, both for George and the Wizards, is easy to see. With George, Coulibaly, former 2nd overall pick Alex Sarr, former 14th overall pick Bub Carrington, and this year's 6th overall pick Tre Johnson, the Wizards have an athletic and promising core of players who are all under 21 years old. With Sarr also having a breakout season, Coulibaly recently returning from injury, andTre Johnson in the top 10 among rookies in points, rebounds, and steals per game, this Wizards team has all the makings of a group that could start the season feisty but unsuccessful and then work their way into being a team nobody wants to play in the second half of the year.
Still, even with a potentially bright future on the horizon, both personally and for his team, George is trying to keep a more immediate mindset.
"You just stay focused on the day-to-day," he said when asked about his thoughts on the outlook for his young team. "Just being intentional with everything you do. You trust that, with the work you're putting in, the intentionality you have every day, the results are gonna come. Yeah, it's tough sometimes, but you got to make sure that your focus is on the right thing, and that you just keep stacking days."
So how does George feel about the days he has stacked so far this season? "I think I'm going in the right direction, but there's way more to be done." It's a sentiment that his head coach shares: "There is no ceiling for a player like [George]."
Now that he has our attention, it's time to see just how high Kyshawn George and these young Wizards can go.
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