Is Kira Lewis Jr.’s Speed Worth the Risk for the New Orleans Pelicans?
Kira Lewis Jr.’s Weaknesses
Lewis Jr. has a slight frame, at 6-foot-3, 165 lbs. so his biggest question marks are his physical strength and defensive capabilities.
Lewis Jr. is never going to be a guy who bodies people in the post and wouldn’t be able to handle some of the league’s strongest guards, but he has active hands to get deflections and is quick enough to jump passing lanes.
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Like Morant, Lewis Jr. uses his blazing speed and instincts to try for steals, which sometimes leads to fast break dunks and other times leads to easy baskets for the other team.
Some worry that he won’t be able to handle the physicality and grind of an NBA season, but Lewis Jr. did average 37.6 minutes per game, which was second in the SEC.
Lewis Jr.’s shot needs some work, as he shoots with a low release point that could get him stuffed by NBA defenders. He did shoot 36.6 percent from 3-point range on 4.9 attempts per game, middling numbers but not terrible.
Lewis Jr. is not likely to be a spot-up 3-point shooter and will get most of his shots off the dribble or in transition.
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He has a tendency to be sloppy with the ball and his 5.2/3.5 assist to turnover ratio would need to improve if he wants to make an NBA rotation.
Lewis Jr. needs to add some weight and strength but he just turned 19-years-old, the same age as most of the one-and-done freshman, so Lewis Jr. has more experience than most of the guys in the class below him but is still the same age.
As a backup point guard, Lewis Jr. ticks a lot of boxes for the New Orleans Pelicans.