OKC Thunder draft prospect profile: Kira Lewis Jr.

Another guard out of the OKC Thunder draft selection range is Alabama Kira Lewis Jr. who possesses lightning speed.

With the NBA Draft scheduled for Wednesday, some last-minute shifts are occurring. One prospect who is benefitting is Alabama guard Kira Lewis Jr.  His speed and long term potential has a few lottery teams buying his stock as they see a path to development. And, while the OKC Thunder will be reformulating their roster Lewis isn’t likely in the mix.

With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander already earmarked to be the cornerstone of the team’s future, it’s unlikely Lewis would be a prospect Sam Presti would earmark as a priority target.

T.I. dives into his key statistics, strengths, and weaknesses.

Kira Lewis Jr. draft prospect preview:

Specifics:

• Height: 6’3″
• Weight: 165 pounds
• Wingspan: 6’6”
• Position: Guard
• Birthdate/Age: April 6, 2001, 19.7 years
• College: Alabama, sophomore
• Stat line: 18.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.8 steals
• Home Town: City, state (or province, or country if international)

Provided by CBB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 11/15/2020.

Current Ranking:

Lewis Jr. is projected to be selected at the end of the lottery or in the next tier of selections. l.

• The Ringer: 14th
• NBA DraftNet: 23rd
• ESPN: 16th
• CBS Sports: 14th
• NBA: 22nd
• Sports Illustrated: 12th
• Bleacher Report: 15th

Strengths:

• Speed, speed, and speed
• The key to the above point is Lewis’ ability to maintain control in conjunction with that speed
• High ceiling
• Time to develop given his age
• Defensive upside with strong instincts
• Scores well at all three areas of the floor

Weaknesses:

• Needs to develop consistency
• Made great strides in his playmaking but still needs to improve in this area
• Needs to add size
• Although much improved he still lacks polish particularly in his playmaking and specifically when running the pick and roll
• For his speed to be his best asset he needs to develop some change of pace moves
• Turnover prone

Pro Comparison:

Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer lists Darius Garland, Lou Williams, Ish Smith as possible NBA comparisons.

OKC Thunder fit:

Recent rumors have lottery teams like the Knicks interested in selecting Lewis Jr. That makes sense as they’ll have time to develop the youngster specifically within their system.

And, while the Thunder will also be shifting their focus and changing the roster he’s not the player the Thunder should be targeting in this range on the board  Nor should Presti be looking to trade up for Lewis given the other options that would be a better fit with the current trio of talents the Thunder are building around.