New York Knicks select Kyshawn George in 2024 NBA Draft, trade him to Washington Wizards

Miami Hurricanes guard Kyshawn George has come off the board in the 2024 NBA Draft. The New York Knicks originally selected George with the No. 24 overall pick of the first round, then traded him to the Washington Wizards. In the deal, the Knicks traded pick No. 24 to Washington for the No. 26 and No. 51 overall picks in the draft, according to Shams Charania.

At 20 years old, George is already 6-foot-7-inches tall and 209lbs. He’s also an international player, who came to Miami from Switzerland to play his college basketball. He came to Miami as a three-star recruit in the Class of 2023, according to the On3 Industry Ranking.

In the end, Kyshawn George played only one season of college basketball. In that season with the Hurricanes, he played in 31 games, starting 16 of them. He also averaged 23 minutes per game as a freshman, while scoring 7.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game on the season. he shot 42.6 percent from the field, 40.8 percent from three-point range, and shot a 77.7 free-throw percentage.

It was a long season for Miami overall, though, with the Hurricanes going just 15-17 and just 6-14 in ACC play. That was a season after the Hurricanes were co-champions of the ACC in the regular season and went to the Final Four.

One thing that Kyshawn George isn’t short on is experience. In 2022-23, he played for Élan Chalon of the French Pro B League. At that point, he was still a full two inches shorter than he is today. He also competed in and won FIBA’s U16 Euro Championship B back in 2019.

From a basketball family, George’s father Deon is from Canada and played the sport professionally in Switzerland.

In most cases, Kyshawn George has been seen as a developmental prospect. In particular, his ball handling and dealing with traffic from NBA level defenses is going to be something for him to work on, but his size and length should help him to adjust.

What NBA Draft experts are saying about Kyshawn George

Ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft, RotoWire wrote up several profiles of players who were expected to be selected in the draft. That includes Kyshawn George.

“It’s a relevant red flag that George logged just three dunks across 713 minutes of action, as the 6-foot-7 guard continuing to develop as a finisher would be strongly reinforced with an above-the-rim style. Even still, converting 58.5% of his attempts alongside a potent 42.7% clip off 96 catch-and-shoot 3s creates multi-level scoring upside. George has deep range, advantageous size to release his shot and a handle to create separation at will. Development is needed, however. Among all players with at least 50 pick-and-roll ball handler possessions, George turned the ball over 26.9 percent of the time to rank 835th out of 884 qualifiers,” RotoWire wrote.

“He had similar struggles taking care of the rock and making decisions in transition, but his physical profile and shooting touch are huge pillars to work from. George is not an on-ball hound defensively, but he was a critical component of Miami’s defense -with the Hurricanes performing 10.8 points better with George on the court and ranking in the 82nd percentile nationwide in defensive rating during those minutes.”