New Orleans Pelicans: 3 positional battles to watch in preseason
New Orleans Pelicans: The battle for backup point guard
Kira Lewis Jr. vs. Tomas Satoransky
This is another interesting preseason battle that will pit an up and coming young player against a solid veteran.
Like Hayes, Lewis Jr. is the more exciting player, but also the one more prone to making mistakes. You know what you will get from Satoransky, which is a solid guard with size who is a decent shooter who can set up teammates.
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Satoransky has a slight advantage just because of his size and ability to play multiple positions while Kira Lewis Jr. is strictly a point guard. Satoransky is also a better shooter though neither of them are great.
Lewis Jr. has more potential in transition and can also be a pesky on-the-ball defender who can get steals and get out and run. But Lewis Jr. has not shot the ball well, so it’s going to be hard for him to use his speed in the half court as teams are just going to sag off and dare him to shoot.
Until Lewis Jr. proves he has some kind of offensive game in the half court, I could see new head coach Willie Green leaning on Satoransky early, as the Pelicans are one of the youngest teams in the NBA and could use some kind of veteran presence off the bench.
These are two very different players at different stages in their careers, so this will be an interesting one to watch.