End-of-Season Grades: Evaluating Jazz G Kira Lewis Jr.

With the Utah Jazz season in the rearview mirror, we’re handing out season grades to each player. It was an underwhelming season in the win column for the team, yet the team remains steadfast in their lofty long-term goals. The Jazz are hoping the pain of losing will pay big dividends down the road. All that leads us to Kira Lewis Jr., the newly acquired Jazzman.

Lewis was part of the salary matching needed to send Kelly Olynyk & Ochai Agbaji to Toronto at the deadline. He was only with the Jazz for a couple of months, resulting in just 12 games played with the team. Despite this, the former lottery pick out of Alabama had some encouraging flashes.

In a game against the Houston Rockets on March 23rd, Lewis registered 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in 25 minutes of action. Despite his limited opportunity, it’s impressive that Lewis was able to make an impact when given extended minutes. The only other game he logged more than 20 minutes for the Jazz was in the season finale when he scored a season-high 13 points against the Warriors.

Lewis is extremely fast, making him dangerous in transition and a valuable driver in the halfcourt. I was particularly impressed with Lewis’ ability to finish at the rim. Lewis shot nearly 61% at the rim on the season, a mark well above the league average.

The area where Lewis struggles is with his outside shot. Despite being an excellent free throw shooter throughout his career, Lewis shot just 15% from deep with the Jazz. The sample size is extremely small, but this has been a concern for him throughout his career.

At this point, it seems highly unlikely that the Jazz will extend a qualifying offer to Lewis. This means that Kira is headed towards unrestricted free agency with his NBA future up in the air. He would be worth bringing back as a depth piece on the Jazz guard line next year, given he’s still young and has a background pedigree worth betting on.

Overall, given his lack of opportunities, it’s hard to give Lewis a harsh grade. However, I was pleased with what he showed us in those limited spots.

Grade C+.

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