Kyshawn George: A Sophomore Leap with Star Trajectory

Joshua Medina breaks down the mechanics behind Kyshawn George's leap towards potential stardom.

After the conclusion of his rookie year, Kyshawn George sat down with Libaan Osman (@libaanstar1 on Twitter) of the Canadian Basketball Podcast and talked about “[wanting] to work on his game and get better over the summer” to “be able to get the best version of [himself]”.

We hear a lot of players talk about how much they WANT to get better Kyshawn George talked that talk, and has actually backed it up with his play.

While he finished his rookie year as, in my opinion, the most impressive of the Wizard rookies, he started off his sophomore year EVEN better, using AmeriCup as a launching point to build momentum.

Those live reps at AmeriCup, where he was thrust into a primary on-ball scorer role — which I think is important for every young player who will have on-ball duties — have done wonders for his long-term growth.

Rep after rep in practice is importance, but being able to utilize those moves in-game not only establish confidence but create opportunities for further growth.

And his growth has been on full display early into his sophomore season.

Last year, in 68 games played, he scored 15 points or more TEN times.

This year?

He’s done that FIVE times in JUST 7 games.

To properly acknowledge growth, you have to remember where you started. Kyshawn was the 24th pick of the ‘24 draft, coming out of Miami, where he served as a fill-in point guard. For the first half of his rookie year, he was lackluster and overlooked.

From opening day until December 31st, 2024, Kyshawn averaged just 7.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.7 blocks, and 1.1 turnovers with 33.5/25.6/71.9 shooting splits (44.8% TS). Not very pretty, huh?

But even during that stretch, there were flashes of the player he could be.

Those flashes shone especially bright when he was tasked with playing on-ball. In the video above (from October 28th, 2024), you can see how natural and comfortable he looks playmaking and facilitating, hinting that the pace and patience that’s popped so frequently in Year-2 has been there all along.

As a rook, his physicality, or lack thereof, was very apparent and was illustrated in his shot selection, forcing him to settle for perimeter shots and struggle to get to the rim. Nearly two-thirds of his field-goal attempts (64.8%) were from beyond the arc, with only 15.9% of his attempts coming from within 0-3 FT of the rim.

Starting 2-22 from deep to open his career certainly didn’t help either.

However, it didn’t take him long to shake off that cold start, which is something I anticipated because the mechanics were always pure butter.

Here are two examples:

In the first (from March 13th, 2025), you can how picturesque the form is, especially on catch-and-shoot threes. It’s quick and compact with a high-release point.

In the next video, you see how that form extends far beyond the arc, showcasing how real the touch is from deep.

Even when the shot wasn’t falling and when he wasn’t been tasked to run the offense, Kyshawn found ways to pop: with his defense. Those flashes of defensive brilliance became more and more consistent as the season progressed, too.

After the all-star break, where Kyshawn’s role ballooned, he established himself as a potential all-defensive level player, in my opinion. Among eligible players who served as the primary defender on 300 or more field goal attempts, Kyshawn’s DFG% of 40% (5.9% less than expected) was the best in the league.

If you the numbers aren’t enough for you, peep the following mix created by Brett Usher (@UsherNBA on Twitter) to see what a defensive menace Ky was as a rookie.

And it wasn’t only his defense that began to pop more and more. Like I said, even early in the season, his feel and fluidity for his age popped whenever he got opportunities, even if his shot wasn’t falling. Those opportunities became more and more bountiful after Kyle Kuzma was traded on February 5th, 2025.

Kyshawn was also trending up even before the trade took place, but Kuzma’s departure served as a launching point for the young Wizard. Before February 5th (44 GP), he was averaging a pedestrian 7.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.6 blocks on 47.5% TS and in 25.4 MPG.

Afterwards (23 GP), he averaged 10.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.9 blocks on 52.5% TS and in 28.4 MPG.

The numbers can’t fully encapsulate the growth he made as a player, though. His confidence was skyrocketing on both ends, helping him start building the momentum that he carried throughout the summer and into this season.

Now, the flashes are not just brighter, but they’re more consistent. And, when you think of stars, what are they if not consistent flashes of brightness?

Understanding the leap he’s made isn’t possible without also acknowledging the work over he put in over the summer. Ky wasn’t just in the weight room or dominating open runs, but, like I said earlier, he also joined Team Canada for AmeriCup, where he got crucial on-ball reps that have laid the foundation for him to become the player we are seeing today.

One of the best things you can do, as a player and organization, is supporting a player by giving them opportunities to play in an extended role and expand their game. For Kyshawn and the Wizards, AmeriCup was exactly that. It allowed him to flesh out his game as a self-creator and initiator, helping him build the confidence to bust out the same off-the-dribble moves that have been instrumental in his growth as a scorer.

From there, Kyshawn himself highlighted how important it was to carry what he built at AmeriCup into the ‘25-26 season. He made it a focus to be more aggressive and to create more often for both himself and others.

He’s stuck to the gameplan, too. Over his rookie year, only 7.9% of his 3PAs were unassisted. As a sophomore, that number has grown to 23.8%.

Last year, just 42.7% of his 2PAs were unassisted. This year, he’s creating 72.4% of his own looks from 2PT-range. As a driver and attacker, Ky showcases newfound physicality, product of hours in the weight room and countless reps in an open gym. The added strength has helped him be more effective from close range, scoring an insane 94% of time when shooting from within 0-3 feet of the rim. He’s also getting to the line more frequently, improving his free-throw rate from .170 to .223.

But he’s not just stronger. There’s a ton of nuance to his driving game, showcasing improved pace and patience off-the-dribble. These changes have contributed to his improved finishing and free-throw rate just as much as adding strength has.

The steps he’s made on offense has led to an uptick in usage from his rookie season, growing from 15.9% to 21.8%. With more usage comes more playmaking opportunities and chances to facilitate, helping him increase his AST% from 13.3% to 19.9%.

As a playmaker, his improved handle gives him more gravity as an attacker, creating more space for his teammates to operate. In the video below, he begins out of the triple threat and using a mix of pace and dribble moves to start getting downhill on Edgecombe (one of the most promising perimeter defenders of this year’s rookie class). In doing so, he forces Bona to rotate over and help, which frees Alex Sarr up for an open three.

There’s things he needs to clean up in that area (such as doubling nearly his turnovers per 100 possessions from 2.6 to 5.1), but his growth gives Washington a consistent source of playmaking from their wing position.

As you’ve seen, with Kyshawn, the further you dig into the numbers and stats, the more they back up what we are seeing on film. He hasn’t just taken a step or two forward. He’s making a full-blown leap.

Eight games into the season, he averages 16.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.1 blocks on 64.9% TS.

Per 100 possessions, he’s increased his points from 15.6 to 25.2, his rebounds from 7.5 to 10.2, his assists from 4.5 to 6.0. He doesn’t just have a bigger role. He’s doing more whenever he’s on the court, while still playing high-level defense. He’s 1 of just 22 players averaging at least 1+ steal and 1+ blocks per game thus far into the season.

With that said, circle back to the video I showed at the beginning, where Kyshawn talked about his plans for the summer after his rookie year.

Kyshawn does not only have the talent to be great, but he also desperately wants to be great.

The talent exists, but, more importantly, so does the mindset and work ethic.

And that is the stuff stars are made of.