Don't look now, but the Washington Wizards are on a bit of a roll now. They've won four of their last six games, and have lost only one game in March so far. A big part of their success this season is the emergence of key contributors from their rookie class.
One of the more notable rookies from the Wizards is guard Kyshawn George. A first-round pick this year, George has shown a lot of promise as an elite defender and a shooter from outside. While the counting stats have not quite shown his potential, his Wizards teammates are convinced of his talent.
Before the Wizards' close win against the Raptors, beat reporter Chase Hughes told sophomore Bilal Coulibaly that his rookie season seems to be similar statistically to George's. Coulibaly was surprised, believing that George had a better season that him in his rookie year.
"That's crazy," Coulibaly said, per Hughes. "I actually thought he's had a better rookie season than me."
This season, George is averaging 8.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 27 minutes played. On the defensive end, the rookie is averaging 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocks. Those are eerily similar to Coulibaly's stats last season, where he had 8.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 0.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks.
Over the last two months, George's stats have improved significantly. He's averaging 11 points per game after not averaging double digit points in his first four months. His shooting has also improved, shooting 38.6% from deep in that timespan.
Against the Raptors, George had a quiet game, only scoring five points. However, in their previous game against the Jazz, the Wizards rookie popped off with 23 points and seven rebounds.
Related: Wizards Fan Favorite Has Solid Advice After Securing NBA Bag
Copyright 2025 Athlon Sports. All rights reserved.
This story was originally published March 9, 2025 at 11:49 AM.