Kira Lewis Scouting Report & Analysis

Overview

OFFENSE

Dynamic quickness and burst. Doesn't need a screen to blowby defenders. Separates easily. Gets into paint a lot. Great drive-and-kick game. Excellent live-dribble passer with either hand. Hits corners. 3-level scoring potential. Solid pullup jumper from 3 and midrange. Average finisher (not much vertical explosion, thin frame, doesn't power through contact) but gets to rim so often that he puts a lot of pressure on defense. Good catch-and-shoot 3. Quick release, solid percentages. But not a movement shooter. Unlikely to sprint off screens.

Unrefined player. Not much craft in PNR. Needs more change of pace, snaking, stop-start, etc. Questionable decision-maker. Reactionary passer. Doesn't pass teammates open. Telegraphs passes. Forces passes. Accuracy issues hitting roll men.

DEFENSE

Great quickness. Gets to spots sooner than offensive players expect. Jumps passing lanes, blows up DHOs. Gets good contests on jumpers; closes distance quickly, enough length to make plays. Great rearview contests. Good understanding of team defense, knows where to be. Effective at digging. Rotates into paint.

Thin frame means that offensive players easily power through him. Struggles against bigger guards. Not much switchability. Unrefined technique and footwork. Gets feet crossed. Doesn't get into ballhandler enough in PNR defense. Some struggles clearing screens. Occasionally suffers from inattentiveness. Struggles seeing man-ball.

Projections

Most likely: Lewis' uses his quickness and burst to get into lane mostly at will. Very good drive-and-kick game. Live-dribble passes with either hand. Very effective hitting corner shooters. Defenses pick off some of his passes because he telegraphs them, but he creates a lot of good looks finding shooters. Good pullup shooter from 3pt and midrange. Not elite, but defenses have to play up on him - unlocks his speed and driving game. Good stationary catch-and-shoot 3. Quick release. Shoots in high 30s, helps him play offball. But not a movement shooter. Doesn't sprint off screens.

Adds healthy weight to his frame. Below-average strength but gets up to about 180 lbs. Improved core and lower body strength leads to improved leaping ability. Still not dunking on anyone, but helps improve his finishing. Becomes an average NBA finisher.

Refines his PNR game. Not a maestro but improves his pace and change of direction. More snaking. Improves accuracy hitting roll men. Cuts back on reckless turnovers. Still mostly a reactionary passer, but his speed + 3-level scoring make him a good PNR player.

Solid defensive player. Knows when to rotate, good event generator. Gets steals jumping passing lanes. Decent PNR and on-ball defender. Good quickness to keep opposing players in front, but stronger players power through him easily. Improves PNR defense technique but still doesn't beat ballhandlers to spots. Plays from behind a lot. Compensates with great rearview contests.

Average to slightly-above average starting point guard. Primary initiator for solid offenses. His shooting lets him play alongside other initiators and be part of very good offenses. Marginally less effective in playoffs when physicality increases, it gets harder for him to drive, and he gets hunted a little on defense due to thin frame. Capable of starting or being key sixth man on title team.

Best case: Benefits massively from NBA strength training. Improved lower body and core strength unlock hidden athleticism. Gets even burstier and drastically improves vertical explosion. Becomes a good finisher. Pullup shooting progresses very well and defenses really fear his shot. Never becomes an elite scorer, doesn't have unstoppable scoring move, gets slowed down by premier defenders.Very good shot creator for his teammates due to threat of his quickness and scoring + his great live-dribble passing. Creates a lot of advantages. But lacks the elite feel to really be a maestro (still mostly a reactionary passer).

Excellent strength improvements make him a good defender. Not great on switches but can hold his own. Improves technique in PNR defense, gets into ballhandlers more and clears screens. Aggressive team defender with high steal rate. Still a one-position defender.

Top 30ish player. Borderline all-star. Very good creator, gets good looks for himself and teammates. Due to his shooting and good defense he pairs well with other good players. 3rd/4th best guy on title team.

Worst case: Strength improvements are marginal and inconsequential. Very slender through career. Fails to substantially improve core/lower body, still a poor vertical athlete. Still shoots 3s - both c&s and pullups - but shoots them in the mid 30s. Struggles more than expected against NBA players. Lack of strength makes it harder for him to get by defenders. Still a good drive-and-kick player but performs much better against backups.

Generates steals on defense but doesn't do much else. Too weak to be an impactful team defender. Struggles getting over screens in PNR coverage. Gets bullied 1-on-1.

Good rotation guard with impressive drive-and-kick and creation ability.

Physical Tools

• Quick. Great first step. Hard for defenders to keep Lewis in front. Lewis blows by his defenders 1-on-1. Doesn't need a screen.

• Excellent burst and acceleration. Once he gets the initial step on a defender, he's gone.

• Gets very low to the ground on his drives. Great ankle bend. Gets chest almost parallel to ground at points. Very hard to stay in front of.

• Will be one of the faster players in the NBA - both in the halfcourt and the fullcourt.

• Decent deceleration. Slows down well on his drives. Puts on the breaks quickly. Uses step throughs and eurosteps that rely on deceleration. But misses layups sometimes because it appears he's moving too fast.

• Solid shiftiness. Changes directions well. Can start driving left and get to his right or vice versa. Long strider for a 6'3 player. Steps around defenders. Doesn't have a lot of complex dribbling moves, so his shiftiness is masked a little.

• Good lateral quickness. Somewhat limited by technique issues.

• Quick feet. Reacts quickly to ballhandlers' moves.

• Solid hip quickness. Not as fluid as elite defenders, but no trouble changing direction and sticking with ballhandlers.

• Mediocre leaping. 1-foot leaper, but just isn't that explosive. Typically not an above-the-rim player. Not going to dunk in traffic.

• Has the speed - but not close to the leaping ability - of a player like John Wall. However, Lewis at least gets off the ground quickly, and he is surprisingly good at blocking the offensive player he's guarding.

• Quick hands and reaction speed. Wins battles for lose balls. Moves faster than most players.

• Solid height and length for an NBA PG. 6'3; 6'5.5 wingspan. Not elite but serviceable. Makes some plays with his wingspan. Reaches around defenders for finishes at rim, blocks some shots.

• Narrow frame, slight shoulders. Alabama lists him at 165 lbs. Surely Lewis can get bigger in an NBA strength & conditioning program. Steph Curry - also at 6'3 with a narrow frame is 185 lbs - something like this should be achievable for Lewis.

• Lewis, likely due to his narrow frame, is contact avoidant. He doesn't finish through anyone. He relies on his quickness to get enough separation to get to a reverse layup or a finish that doesn't necessitate powering through a defender. Lack of physicality didn't hurt him too much on defense, but will be a greater issue in the NBA.

Lewis has very good physical tools. He has excellent (near elite) quickness and burst. In the NBA he'll almost certainly be able to get into the lane and compromise the defense. Doesn't need a screen to get by defenders. Good lateral quickness and hips for playing defense. Lack of strength and narrow frame limit his defensive utility - but should get stronger than a player like Trae Young - should manage not to get run over.

Look at Lewis' quickness and burst. Gets separation fast.

Context

• Incredibly young sophomore. 19.2 years old this June. Played a lot of his freshman season as a 17 year-old - was literally draft ineligible last year. Lewis is a whole year younger than freshman prospect Cole Anthony. And just four months older than freshman prospects like Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball.

• Given his youth, evaluators should assume Lewis has more for improvement than the average sophomore.

• Under new head coach Nate Oats, Alabama ran a high-pace offense that played with a lot of shooting around Lewis. The system really complemented Lewis' strengths, and it showed what Lewis will look like with NBA spacing. Lewis enjoyed more spacing than fellow point-guard prospect Cole Anthony.

Finishing

• Ok finisher - 57% this season - on high volume, 45.2% of Lewis' shots were at the rim.

• Below-the-rim finisher. Not exploding over anyone. Gets shot blocked more than he dunks.

• Although he's not vertically explosive, Lewis at least jumps off one foot and he jumps quickly. Gives him more finishing options.

• Finishes with both hands, but prefers right.

• Flashes of solid finishing touch off the glass. Really nice reverse layups using the backboard with either hand.

• Misses too many "bunnies" at the rim. Leaves it short on the glass too often.

• Doesn't power through or over defenders. Vulnerable to shot blockers.

• Uses rim as a shield. Knows to use his body to shield ball from defenders. Contorts well, changes position of his body in the air to account for defenders, leans under defenders.

• Uses his body as a shield but far from a power finisher. Typically jumps away from defenders/the rim. Not muscling through any defenders. 28.7% FTA rate. Doesn't draw a ton of fouls.

• Good deceleration ability at rim, has some step-throughs/eurosteps. Long strides for a 6'3 player. Should try to slow down even more on his drives. Some of his easy misses appear to be because he's going too fast and doesn't get proper touch off the glass.

• Gets full length extension on most of his finishes. Maximizes his 6'5.5 wingspan.

• Not comfortable with floater yet. Looking to get to glass on either side of basket. However, flashes of solid touch with his right hand.

Projects as a solid finisher in the NBA. Lewis is elite at driving and getting to the rim; he'll likely take a high volume of rim attempts. Lewis showed good skill for getting shots off. Lewis lacks elite vertical explosiveness and touch, and he is very skinny, so there's a limit on his finishing efficiency. However, Lewis can improve his finishing by 1) missing less easy shots around the basket; 2) getting stronger and playing through more contact to get to to the line.

Knives through defense and uses crafty finish.

Lack of vertical explosion at rim. Makes finishes tougher than they should be.

Shooting

• Projects as a good to very-good shooter. Solid shooting indicators across the board: 36.7% from 3; 34.8% on midrange jumpers; 80.0% FT.

• Good form. Quick release, holds follow-through, no obvious elbow flare. Shoots with his feet pretty close together; could generate more power and range by spacing his feet.

• Release is a little low; however, the rest of his form is excellent, so I'd be reluctant to mess with it too much.

• Occasionally fades backwards (especially on pullups). Better when he jumps straight up and down.

• Very comfortable on stationary c-s-3s. Shoots them with no hesitation. Gets into shot quickly.

• Barely any movement c-s-3s at Alabama. May be able to expand this part of the game in the NBA. Nothing in his form or percentages suggests an inability to take 3s off movement.

• Pullup game looks good and has room for further growth. Not as aggressive getting to his pullup as dynamic pullup shooters in the NBA, but could get more aggressive in NBA. Gets on balance really well. Form doesn't breakdown off the bounce. Occasionally fades backwards, but generally goes straight up and down and generates good power from his legs.

• Can get to his pullup off different setups: stepbacks, hang dribbles, crossovers. Appears to have slightly more utility and comfort pulling up while going left.

• Burgeoning mid-range game. Didn't shoot an elite percentage (34.8%), but looked comfortable pulling up out of PNR. Form looked good. Likes shooting from the elbows: pairs well with his speed, defenders will have to back off.

Lewis displayed many indicators which suggest he'll shoot well in the NBA. He has good form and shot solid percentages from all over the floor. Getting more strength in his lower body and core will help Lewis generate more power and improve his accuracy . Has potential to be a good-to-very-good shooter in the NBA who can hit c-s-3s and pullup from 3 and midrange. Lethal weapon when paired with his quickness.

Threat of his drive sets up the pullup 3. Very difficult for defenders to guard both.

Handle

• Not the flashiest/most creative handle, but functional and effective.

• Comfortable with either hand.

• Tight handle, doesn't lose control. Lewis moves at high speeds, but his handle doesn't slow him down. Stays low to the ground. Compliments his driving.

• Main weapon is his crossover (basic 1-2 crossover, between-the-legs, behind-the-back). Can vary the speed and width of his crossovers. Sometimes tight and low, sometimes wider and high. With his quickness, the crossover is usually enough to get defenders off balance.

• Also has a nice hesitation dribble, especially going left. Very subtle, but freezes defenders enough for Lewis to get by.

• Has a very fast spin move. Sometimes gets out of control, but if refined further will pair well with his speed.

• Doesn't have extended sequences of dribbling moves. Not very creative. Nowhere near crafty ballhandlers like Ja Morant and Trae Young.

Lewis' handle isn't that creative, but it is very functional. It pairs well with his great speed; his handle is under control and doesn't slow him down. Gets a lot of mileage out of his crossovers, doesn't need much to get by a defender. In college Lewis got by defenders on his first one or two moves, didn't need more.

Passing

• Significant strengths and weaknesses, but possesses some impressive, NBA-level passing skills.

• Excellent one-handed passer with either hand and off live dribble. Makes whip passes, can hit weakside shooters. When paired with his speed and driving game, Lewis will be an excellent drive-and-kick player.

• Hits corners very well with either hand and off a live dribble. Hits recipient in the numbers. Lewis is good at arguably the most important NBA passing skill.

• Advanced passing skill treading baseline and throwing one-handed pass to opposite corner.

• Passing effectiveness drops off when he jumps to pass. Telegraphs the passes. Puts too much air under them. Too easy for defenders to intercept.

• Poor lob passer. Accuracy issues. Overthrows lobs. Throws behind roll men. Telegraphs them. Easy for defenses to deflect.

• Doesn't manipulate defenses (apart from occasional flashes). Doesn't use headfakes, passfakes.

• Reactive passer - not anticipatory. Passes to open shooters once he's collapsed defense. Doesn't pass teammates open. Passes once player is open. But Lewis' driving abilities are strong, so he can still create just by collapsing the defense.

• Doesn't use bounce passes as much as he should. Throws high-risk chest passes.

• Vision issues feeding bigs. Misses a lot of of dumpoffs.

• Makes strange decisions. Jumps without a plan. Forces passes that aren't there (like when his teammates are closely guarded).

Great vision here driving left along baseline.

Nice vision seeing shooter on drive.

Severe accuracy issues on lobs.

Pick and Roll Offense

• Rudimentary craft and technique in PNR, but still effective due to his 3-level scoring and live-dribble, one-handed passing.

• Must refine PNR game. Must use screens better and play with more pace. Lewis almost always attacks hard out of the PNR. Very predictable. Needs more pace change for NBA.

• Solid flashes of snaking the PNR, but I want to see more. Doesn't put defenders in jail.

• Must improve at manipulating defense. Doesn't incorporate shotfakes/headfakes enough.

• Gets to his spots in PNR. Too quick to keep out of paint. Should be able to get a step against most switch defenders.

• Lewis' passing translates well to his PNR game. Excellent hitting corners with one-handed passes. Translates well to spread PNR.

• Lewis is worse at hitting the roll man. Has pocket passes and lead passes but too telegraphed, risky, and inaccurate here. Will throw passes into traffic. 17% TOV rate. Must improve accuracy.

• 3-level scoring ability out of PNR, as discussed in Finishing and Shooting sections.

Lewis is an unsophisticated PNR player, but he has the essential skills to succeed in the NBA. He's a great live-dribble passer that can use either hand, and he has strong 3-level scoring potential. He must improve at manipulating the defense, playing with pace, and making better decisions (particularly with his passes to roll men).

Team Defense, Defensive Awareness

• Good team defender.

• Good feel for generating events. Jumps passing lanes for steals. Closes distance quickly with his quickness and solid length. 2.5% steal rate is solid (not spectacular), but Lewis likely could have increased it if playing in more aggressive system.

• Good understanding of rotations. Particularly effective playing nail. Uses his quick hands to disrupt ballhandlers. Can help and quickly recover to his man.

• Solid weakside rotations into paint. Knows when to rotate. Sometimes hard for him to make a play due to his thin frame, but at least gets there.

• Prone too helping a little too far off a good shooter.

• Issues with ball-watching. Needs to see man-ball better.

• Overall lack of strength somewhat diminishes the effectiveness of his rotations. Too easy for offensive players, especially bigs, to just power through him.

Closeouts

• Good tools for closeouts and generally effective. Unrefined technique.

• Lewis' quick closing speed surprises offensive players. Blocks some shots on closeouts. Nice block rate for a guard. 1.5%.

• Doesn't always closeout with enough urgency. Sometimes gives shooters too much space. Solid length at 6'5.5 wingspan, but still needs to get into good shooters - can't play off.

• Poor footwork & technique. Usually doesn't use short-choppy steps. Relies on quicks and good lateral mobility to recover.

• Good deceleration despite technique issues. Doesn't get dusted. Usually recovers and stays attached once offensive player starts drive.

Off-ball Defense

• Generally good off-ball defender.

• Fights hard to get over screens off-ball. Gets skinny. Usually doesn't get screened off. Navigates off-ball screens better than most college players.

• Good lock-and-trail player because he's good at rearview contests. Bothers offensive players even when he falls behind.

• Jumps passing lanes with his quickness. Blowups DHOs too. Gets to spots quicker than offensive players expect.

• Prone to ball watching. Must keep head on swivel. Susceptible to backdoors.

Pick and Roll Defense

• Good job staying attached even if he gets bumped by screen. Maintains contact with his man. Very quick, hard for an offensive player to get past him completely.

• Keeps competing even when his man gets in front of him. Gets lots of rearview contests. Blocks shots from behind. Good block rate at 1.5%. Quick enough to get back in play.

• Technique needs work. Quick enough to beat ballhandlers to spot. But lets them use screens instead. Lets ballhandlers get separation and then uses his quickness/good rearview contest abilities to recover. Must make it harder for offensive players to use screen in first place.

• Decent at getting skinny. Usually doesn't get taken out of play by screen (just clipped a little). But doesn't do enough to avoid screens. Should press into ballhandler and get close before screen is set. Leaves too much room.

• Mediocre footwork. Crosses feet too much. Doesn't always lead with correct foot. Has to break stance more than a player with his lateral quickness should. Rarely slides with ballhandler throughout entire sequence, usually breaks stance and then is quick enough to recover or contest.

• Must improve at getting in stance early. Plays upright too much. Should be sitting down in stance, ready to slide before screen gets set.

• Too quick for most screeners to really hit him, but when he does get hit, he's too weak to power through screen.

Doesn't beat offensive player to spot. But great at staying in play and contesting shot.

On-Ball Defense

• Quick lateral slider. Fluid hips.

• Excellent contesting shots. Maximizes his length. Good timing. Blocks some jump shots.

• Keeps hands active. Contests passes.

• Keeps offensive players in front. But bigger guards and wings can power through Lewis because of his thin frame. Must get stronger to be a stopper. Right now has no chance against strong point guards like Russell Westbrook or Kyle Lowry.

• Deceleration issues arise when offensive players use a lot of stop-starts, hesitations. Doesn't get dusted but gives up too much room for relatively open jumpers (somewhat negates his otherwise excellent ability to contest shots).

• Thin frame makes him very susceptible to backdowns.

• Poor postup defender. Weak, bites on fakes.

• Tendency to relax and stay upright. Must stay in stance. Gets caught flat-footed.

• Some footwork issues. Gets feet crossed. Leads with wrong foot sometimes.

• Picks his spot getting steals, but doesn't apply much ball pressure. Has the quicks to do it. Should do so to increase his defensive value in NBA.

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