Pelicans: 3 Ways Kira Lewis Jr. can be used in Stan Van Gundy’s offense

Stan Van Gundy could make Kira Lewis Jr. an imposing off-ball scorer for the New Orleans Pelicans that defenses will struggle to defend

#2 – Off-Ball Scoring

I like to think of this utilization of Kira Lewis Jr. as the Lou Williams role. Throughout the draft process, I compared Kira Lewis Jr. to Lou Williams with good merit because like Williams, Lewis is really a smaller shooting guard who gets asked to play the point guard position.

Since that’s the case, I could see the New Orleans Pelicans benefitting from playing Lewis as a shooting-guard at times even though he’s only 6’3″. I wouldn’t necessarily risk playing him there full time but I think in crunch time moments, putting Lewis there could be deadly for the Pelicans.

That’s because Kira Lewis Jr. is such a great scorer and shooting from beyond the arc. So picture it, Lonzo Ball is running the point and he’s operating the offense in a close game. The defense clues in on his pick and roll with Zion Williamson, and they cover up Brandon Ingram. Now what?

Throw the ball out to Kira Lewis Jr. and let him work. Make him a microwave scorer. At some points, he could have easy 3 point shots that are wide open, and considering he hit 36 percent of his threes at college he’ll likely make a lot of those.

If an easy shot isn’t there well Lewis can still play shooting guard and use his top-notch speed to hit larger defenders with a move. That move could result in Lewis making space for a shot or taking advantage of his defender’s aggression to attack the basket.

Still nothing happening? Well at his worst, Lewis can use the threat of scoring to draw defenders in and then quickly whip the ball back out to the perimeter.

If that potential still isn’t selling you on Lewis, I got one more idea that could.