NBA Draft 2020: Top 3 options for Detroit Pistons with the No. 7 pick

Possible NBA Draft target for Detroit Pistons — Kira Lewis Jr.

Guard | Alabama | 6’3 | 180 lbs | 19 years old

A cursory glance at Detroit’s current roster construction reveals some rather glaring holes, particularly in terms of offensive creation in the backcourt.

Aside from Derrick Rose, now 32 and on the final year of his two-year, $15 million deal that he signed last offseason, who else on the Pistons is capable of getting two feet in the paint and collapsing a defense? Luke Kennard is a talented perimeter creator, but he lacks the standstill burst to regularly get to the basket.

Bruce Brown is relatively fast and certainly strong, but he’s no primary. Langston Galloway and Brandon Knight are free agents, Khyri Thomas has struggled to earn NBA minutes, and the über-quick Jordan Bone was kept in the G-League while on his two-way contract.

Simply put, the Detroit Pistons could really use a player capable of getting to the basket and penetrating a defense off the bounce, both for the sake of creating points for himself but also for creating advantages for his teammates. If speed is what they need, then look no further than Alabama road runner Kira Lewis Jr., arguably the draft’s fastest player with dazzling end-to-end speed and half-court burst, with shotmaking ability and live-dribble passing skills to boot.

Uniquely young for a sophomore — he carries an April 2001 birthdate and was 18 for the entirety of his second collegiate season, making him younger than freshman one-and-dones Tyrese Maxey (November 2000) and Cole Anthony (May 2000) — Lewis wasn’t even eligible to declare for the draft after his freshman season, with no choice but to return to Alabama.

Lewis exploded to the tune of 18.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.8 steals on .459/.366/.802 shooting in his second season, with head coach Nate Oats incorporating spread pick-and-roll schemes and Morey Ball tenants that meshed beautifully with Lewis’ elite quickness and ability to seamlessly transition from his dribble into high-velocity passes to shooters and cutters alike.

Lewis doesn’t get enough credit for his aptitude and tantalizing space creation as a jump-shooter, despite his evident touch from the foul line (career 79.3% on 246 FTA) and beyond the arc (career 36.2% on 304 attempts). He still needs to improve at playing at different speeds, as to fully maximize his quickness and agility, but he’s shown shot-making versatility as a pull-up shooter and spot-up shooter, making him viable both with and without the ball.

Though he found most of his usage in the pick-and-roll (62nd percentile) and transition (79th percentile), Lewis was one of the more potent spot-up scorers in the nation, shooting 44.3% from the floor and ranking in the 86th percentile per Synergy, drilling shots off the catch or terrorizing rotating defenses as a slasher.

Where Lewis will need to improve the most is his physicality. His speed draws comparisons to Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, but there’s a notable difference between their reach (6’5 wingspan for Lewis, 6’7 for Fox) and an even larger difference between their vertical explosion, with Fox ultimately scoring at the basket much more efficiently at the college level than Lewis.

Fox converted on 64.5% of his 203 shots at the rim as a freshman; Lewis, on the same number of attempts as a sophomore, only converted on 57.6% of his attempts, per barttorvik. Finishing at the basket as a skinny guard who doesn’t exactly jump out of the gym isn’t an easy task, but there are avenues for Lewis improving in the NBA, particularly if he adds muscle mass, cuts down on the premature gathers, and develops a floater game.

Skinny stature aside, there’s much to like about a young sophomore guard with game-breaking speed, shot-making versatility, live-dribble passing, space creation, improving pick-and-roll navigation, and impressive recovery abilities on defense. Lewis likely won’t (and shouldn’t) be tasked with a heavy creation load as a rookie, but his spot-up scoring capabilities would pair nicely with a revitalized Blake Griffin in the short-term, and if needed, he can be an understudy for another speedy guard in Derrick Rose before taking the reins of the offense next year.