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Kira Lewis Jr. has spent much of the early part of training camp with the New Orleans Pelicans learning as much as possible ahead of the 2020-21 season but the 13th overall pick has also impressed a few individuals along the way.
Rookies this year are at a bit of a disadvantage of entering the season after a truncated offseason period. The process of learning new plays and getting to know their teammates on the court is often lengthy and teams only have a few weeks this year to relay that information to players.
Lewis is seemingly soaking up everything that has been thrown at him.
“I love what Kira has done,” head coach Stan Van Gundy said Tuesday in a Zoom call with reporters. “Number one, you can tell his talent is there: Quick, can shoot the ball, plays really hard, good defensive instincts. He has a lot going for him as a player so that’s exciting. He’s also a great worker with a great attitude. He doesn’t question anything. He just tries to do everything you ask him to do. We are really encouraged by what we’ve seen early on.”
Lewis earned All-SEC First Team honors last season after averaging 18.5 points, 5.2 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 31 games played with Alabama. He also shot 50.7% from the field, including 36.6% from 3-point range on 4.9 attempts.
The addition of Lewis figures to be a great fit with the Pelicans given his ability to run out in transition and play both guard positions. He proved to be a solid shooter last season, something that has stood out even more to teammate JJ Redick.
“His speed strikes you immediately,” Redick said on Tuesday. “It seems like he is a better shooter than I thought. I don’t watch a ton of college basketball but watching him in drills and his ability to knock down open 3s in practice has been really good. He’s also coachable. He’s got a good demeanor out on the court. I think he responds well. I can see why we took him with that pick.”
New Orleans wants to be very aggressive in transition and appears to have the pieces in place to help facilitate that style of play. Certainly, there is much to like with Lewis and he appears to be off and running thus far in training camp.
The Pelicans begin preseason play on Monday vs. the Miami Heat.
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