Pelicans Eyeing Kira Lewis Jr.’s Rehab
The New Orleans Pelicans are keeping a close eye on Kira Lewis Jr.’s rehab. Speed was Lewis Jr.’s most elite skill but a torn ACL in December 2021 stalled his progress. Now the 21-year-old is in danger of not being a full participant in training camp in order to make it back before the start of the season. However, Lewis Jr. has the talent to be a spark plug addition sometime next year.
When he does come back, hopefully around Christmas or just after the 2023 New Year, expect nothing less than Lewis Jr. at his very best. He tagged a recent Instagram post, “Never can keep a real one down. They’ll always get back up.” A similar message was posted on Twitter.
Lewis Jr. is still the youngest player on the team going into the 2022 NBA Draft. New Orleans needs more time to evaluate its 2020 first-rounder. The Alabama product has yet to have a normal training camp and was buried on Stan Van Gundy’s bench or injured for most of the pandemic. He was a net positive plus/minus player under Willie Green and did have 124 assists to just 34 turnovers during his rookie season
Devonte’ Graham, Jose Alvarado, and Lewis Jr. will all be competing for the same reserve guard minutes. Graham is on the trade block and Alvarado just signed a four-year deal to shore up the supporting cast. New Orleans can afford to find Lewis Jr. more time. He is a lottery pick with only 78 games under his belt and is still three years younger the Jose Alvarado.
Nov 22, 2021; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Kira Lewis Jr. (13) shoots while defended by Minnesota Timberwolves guard D'Angelo Russell (0) in the second half at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Lewis Jr. needs to slow the game down and make more than 39% (189/483) of his shots. He has made 53 professional three-pointers in 178 attempts(29%). The shooting stats are subpar but his all-around potential (49 career steals, 11 blocks) means he still has value on the trade market. It would not be surprising to see Lewis Jr. traded during the 2022 NBA Draft but it would signal the team’s championship intentions for the immediate future.
Given just a bit of on-court developmental time, Kira can help keep CJ McCollum’s mileage down through a long regular season. At worst, he will remind the Smoothie King Center faithful of Frank Jackson with more upside. At his best, he could run the second unit. Lewis Jr. just has to knock down a few more shots and use that quickness to finish at the rim. Any contributions to a playoff run this season would be a payoff for the patience the team has with players suffering injuries.
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