Buffaloes in the NBA: George King is on the Utah Jazz now, apparently

There are no Woj bombs for players who have played 6 career minutes in the NBA, unfortunately. There are also no news updates when the 59th pick in the draft changes team — not by the team that drafted him, or the team that acquired him. So yeah, I don’t know when it happened, but at some point in the past week or two, George King moved from the Phoenix Suns to the Utah Jazz.

As a sports journalist basketblogger who follows one (1) team that currently has zero (0) active sports, this is an embarrassing oversight. I looked up George King’s Wikipedia page and G-League profile, but they both had him listed as being on the Suns. Then I looked up the Suns’ Summer League roster and GK was not on it. There weren’t any notes about King not being on the roster, which was puzzling because someone else was listed wearing King’s #8 uniform number. I knew something had happened, but I was too lazy to look at the 29 other Summer League rosters.

I was watching Anfernee Simons highlights when I realized where life had taken King. After Simons made an and-1 layup, someone on the Jazz made an aggravated face at the ref. The camera quickly cut, but I thought that guy might have been GK. As Simons continuing scoring — he finished with 35 — #19 on the Jazz was uniquely thicc, long-armed and buzz-cutted. He was just a background player on Summer League highlights and he wasn’t even guarding Simons — not that anyone could guard him — so it was tough to tell. It was him, it turned out, apparently on the Jazz without a single news article saying so.

Anyway, I suppose this is that article saying that “George King has signed with the Jazz Summer League squad, hopes to earn two-way contract.” I just wanted everyone to know that I had to find this out via YouTube highlights instead of reading about the transaction.

At 25, he’s old for a second-year player, but as we saw at CU, he’s improving all the time. He’s a short combo forward, but makes up for it with long arms, strength and leaping ability, all of which make him a switchy defender who rebounds very well. He can also shoot, as he shot 43% with the Northern Arizona Suns last year. He’s also a wonderful person who contributes to a winning culture — something that was wasted in Phoenix.

The Jazz are a legit contender, but they have a shortage of physical wings who can space the floor. King is no Andre Roberson, but there’s a solid chance he earns one of Utah’s two two-way contracts, wherein he would split time between the NBA and G League.