New Orleans Pelicans: Kira Lewis Jr. must improve his decision making
Part of the reason Lewis Jr. struggled to shoot was that he was indecisive with the ball, especially in the paint.
Lewis Jr. can get wherever he wants on the floor and is very good using his speed to get into the paint, but once he gets there he isn’t sure what he wants to do with it.
This is typical of rookie point guards, and something that will improve with increased playing time, but there were a lot of plays where it was clear that Lewis Jr. jumped before he knew what he wanted to do with the ball, which led to a lot of off-balanced and timid shots that looked like an afterthought.
Kira needs to look to score in these situations first and pass second, as it is much easier to pass out of shot than shoot out of a pass.
Lewis Jr. was also indecisive in the pick-and-roll, often unsure of when to pull up for the shot, try to get to the hoop or pass to the roller.
All of these things will come with time, and it’s important to mention that he had no training camp or Summer League to work with last offseason, so he did pretty well considering the lack of preparation, a good sign that he’ll improve.