Utah Jazz: Georges Niang made his case for a roster spot

Former second round pick Georges Niang made a strong case in the 2018 NBA Summer League to earn a spot on the Utah Jazz roster next season.

Georges Niang, the former second round pick out of Iowa State, hasn’t had much of a notable NBA career to date. He’s only played a total of 125 minutes in the NBA and scored 30 points in his 32 appearances; with only nine of those coming with the Utah Jazz. So how did he earn a roster spot on an up-and-coming Jazz squad?

For starters, Niang has started in every game so far in the 2018 NBA Summer League, averaging 26.0 minutes per game, which is second on the roster only to Utah’s first round selection from the 2018 NBA Draft, Grayson Allen.

Niang is averaging 15.0 points per game, tied for second the roster only behind (again) Grayson Allen.

Niang is shooting 44 percent from the floor (ranks fifth on the roster), while also averaging 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, including this nifty dime from Tuesday’s game against the Miami Heat:

There are very few current NBA players that can make that pass while in transition, let alone have the body control to do that in midair.

Now, all of these statistics are supposed to be taken with a grain of salt. It’s just Summer League. Teams are composed of players that haven’t played one NBA minute, or are fighting for a spot on a G League roster. That’s about as convincing an argument as the reason that Paul George didn’t play in the All-Star Game in Los Angeles because he was “under the weather.”

Are all the players currently playing in the Summer League going to make an NBA roster; either via the G League affiliate or the actual parent club? No, a very small percentage will. But these are players that those same teams felt were good enough to be on their roster and/or were selected by an NBA team at some point. They’re not “trash” or “scrubs.”

Niang fits the mold of a “jack-of-all-trades, master of none” type of player, or, as some in NBA circles call it, “a glue guy.” Here’s an excerpt of a scouting report from an article by NBADraft.net on Niang:

"“On one hand, he displayed solid toughness fighting through defenders on his way to the basket, beginning with a simple shot fake or crossover to catch his man off guard. While his first step is below average, he is able to operate smoothly using tremendous timing and an excellent feel for the game, helping him pick and choose how and when to attack his opponent.“He is also very good at getting to the basket, compensating for his lack of quickness and explosiveness with excellent body control and instincts around the basket, using every inch of the backboard to convert difficult, often-contested looks. He also demonstrates the ability to kick the ball out to teammates and pass out of traffic if unable to create the requisite space to get a good look off.”"

Niang isn’t an explosive athlete, the scouting report is spot on there. What the author didn’t foresee is that Niang’s basketball IQ far outweighs any concerns about his athleticism. Exhibit A:

https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/1016806451820388353

Exhibit B:

https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/1016784974559629313

Sure, these are just a few select plays from a very small sample size of a few games. According to Andy Larsen (who announced today he’s moving to the Salt Lake Tribune in a few weeks, currently with KSL), despite Thursday night’s Jazz win, Niang didn’t necessarily impress:

Despite the less than stellar showing on Thursday, the Jazz had seen enough to officially sign him.

Next: 2018 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far

Sometimes quality is better than quantity, and Niang has shown plenty of the former already.