Georges “Niang Cat” Niang has not had a productive career up until this point. His first two years in the league, the most he ever scored in a single game was five. He was the very definition of a fringe NBA player, which makes sense given that he was picked near the end of the 2016 draft. The guys bookending him in that draft, Ben Bentil and Michael Gbinije, are both well out of the league by now, as are the guys bookending THOSE guys, Paul Zipser and Joel Bolomboy.
This season, Niang’s had a slightly bigger role, appearing in most of the Jazz’s games and scoring in double-digits three (now four) times. What’s crazy is how the Jazz actually re-signed him on purpose after last season when the most he ever scored in a game was four points. Sure, it was a cheap three-year deal with only the first year guaranteed, but Niang must have shown something that warranted an investment in him. I thought he was out of the league for sure, but the Jazz believed in him, and now he has a small, but real, role on a playoff team in the West.
It’s too early to call this a “success story”, given that the Jazz don’t have to keep Niang around after this season if they don’t want to, and he could very well end up in Europe as soon as next season. Actually, you know what? Yeah. Let’s call it a success story. A fiftieth-overall pick sticking around for three years (or more) in the NBA is a success story. Full stop.