Malique Lewis Scouting Report
Physicality, toughness, and top-tier athleticism bring butterflies to every NBA decision-maker's stomach. It gets better for Lewis and his chances to succeed. Here is his NBA role and potential:
Introduction
As a part of the NBL’s Next Stars program, Lewis transferred from the G League’s Mexico City Capitanes to Australia, where he plays for South East Melbourne. For a prospect to put himself in the best position to succeed, the opportunity to play and role parity for the NBA is the most essential. For Lewis, he made a homerun decision by moving to the other side of the world.
Lewis’ complementary scoring, while carrying a heavier duty defensively, puts him in the best position to showcase what he can do for an NBA team. At 9 points, 6 rebounds, and over two stocks per game, the outcome doesn’t look flashy. But that doesn’t matter, as it’s all about the substance. It fits seamlessly with what he’ll do at the next level. That’s the emphasis of this scouting report.
Physical Profile
At 6-foot-8, Lewis is a strongly built combo forward with broad shoulders. He has decent core strength but much better improved upper-body strength. With decent hip fluidity and footwork, Lewis has good mobility, which helps him to defend against different positions. He’s a good athlete. The combination of twitchiness and strength help him to change from playing more physically, while also matching up against quicker guards and wings.
Lewis has excellent verticality and big hands. His body changed rapidly throughout the years, leading to his frame falling behind. He’s making up for lost time as he’s improving his strength level in his chest, which helps him maintain better balance when he’s operating inside the arc. On top of his much more feasible role as a help-side rim protector, his physical profile continues to add value with his 7-foot-1 wingspan while bulking up to 209 pounds.
Offense
Transition
Lewis’s best skill is composure combined with speed. That makes him a constant threat on the open floor, whether he’s initiating ‘grab-and-go’ sequences after defensive rebounds or when he’s sprinting ahead in transition to finish off plays. His incredibly quick feet and body control help him to use his craftiness to get to his spots around the rim. The improving upper-body strength increases the threat of him drawing fouls, which he converts at a 68.4% rate this season.
His change of pace is an important weapon, as shown in the first play below. Defenders know they have to step in and contest when he’s decelerating, which Lewis smartly uses to find the right angle to get fully open at the rim. His balance and footwork stood out on top of his soft touch around the basket. Another value added is his composure when he doesn’t have the right options to drop the ball off, as shown in the second play below. He’s calm and knows that he can leverage his speed to make defenders adjust to his will, where in the second possession, he drew a foul to get himself to the charity stripe.
In the third play below, Lewis shows how well he understands angles. He’s positioning himself to attack the baseline, where he’s catching the ball toward the strong side, initiating an immediate response from the defender. Hereafter, his hips move fluidly to attack the other direction. This continues in the fourth play below, where his teammate passes the ball ahead for Lewis to again use his long arms to lure defenders to react in one direction while he’s using his quick feet to find the right angle in the other direction. His profile fits the NBA’s will to play much faster while avoiding halfcourt-heavier gameplay to improve their offensive rating.
Catch-and-shoot
Lewis’ jumper has been the issue in his development over the last two years. He’s often forcing his shots rather than relying on his natural shot release. A drop in morale after a few misses is visibly there. Therefore, an NBA decision-maker must make that one of his most vital things to improve. It’s not an issue of mental toughness but more the response to missing shots not fitting his incredible desire to win games.
When looking at his jumper, the process is rushed. He’s good at setting his feet, but the biggest struggle for him is to correct the ball. He’s also bringing the ball down too far, where it’s impossible to fluidly power up for his shot. He doesn’t need to power back either, as he’s strong enough to shoot shots where he keeps the ball around the level of his chest. There’s also a gentle push on his shot, where the high-arcing point is good, but it often doesn’t find the target, as shown in the first play below.
As a result, Lewis hesitates on his jumpers. That fuels defenders to fully close out on him, as it’s certain he’ll shoot after taking half a second longer than he should. The second play is an example. He moves his feet well before the catch while putting himself ready in a stance to land a fake and attack the closeout or shoot. But waiting it out didn’t benefit either. In the third possession, we see another area of development. For Lewis, winning time on his jumpers is the main fix. The key to fixing it is to hold the ball closer to his chest. With the defense closing out already, Lewis brought the ball down while powering back up for the shot.
Another area to work on for Lewis is to place his body, feet, and the ball at 180 degrees of the basket. In the last play below, he caught the ball from the side and didn’t correct his stance despite being left wide-open. For NBA scouts, the improvements of his jumper off the catch is the main area to focus on in his developmental plan.
Cuts
Despite being undersized to play as a true play-finishing five, Lewis’ enticing athleticism makes it possible for him to feist off paint touch generators who can break down defenses. He’s mostly thriving on his role as a weak-side option, where teams can afford to sag off him as he’s an underwhelming shooter. But that’s compensated through Lewis’ active cutting that places him in good positions to collect dropoff or bailout passes.
In the first play below, we see Lewis coming through the middle after dribble penetration collapsed the interior defense. Despite the rough pass, he caught it well. He has good and big hands, which is another value adder to his draft profile. However, at times, Lewis struggles to utilize these. In the third play below, he caught the pass but needed to correct it, costing him his balance to finish the play underneath the basket.
Regardless, NBA teams will help him develop to ensure he can put himself in the same scoring position with fewer ball touches. Knowing that teams are hesitant to feature underwhelming shooters, Lewis has enough counters to compensate, with his scoring prowess in transition and via cuts.
Passing and playmaking
At 1.2 assists to 0.5 turnovers per game, Lewis’ passing doesn’t stand out at first sight. However, he is a good connective passer and ball mover for NBA teams to utilize. Despite not playing as a playmaker at South East Melbourne, Lewis recognizes angles and uses his plus size to see over defenders. In today’s NBA, there’s much more ball movement and motion while the game is played at a higher pace. That helps Lewis to get more ball touches while his leverage as a cutter and athlete makes it feasible for him to draw attention from defenders.
That will lead to him executing reads consistently. In the first play below, Lewis fakes the three to attack the closeout. After getting two feet inside the paint, he bumps into the interior defender. Hereafter, the angle to hit the backdoor cutter is wide open. However, he fools the entire defense by hitting the corner shooter while seeing the help-side defender rotating to him. That’s a high-level read. He’s also a timely passer. In the second play, he’s executing the two-to-one transition play to perfection. Instead of passing the ball ahead, he makes sure the defender gambles and rotates to him before leaving the play-finisher with a wide-open path to the rim.
In the fourth possession below, Lewis attacks the closeout before again bumping into his defender after getting two feet inside the paint. The hangtime while passing the ball to the cutter in midair was impressive. Especially considering he kept his eyes on the floor while pulling up for a midrange jumper. His quick decision-making is fueled by details such as touch-passing, as shown in the last play below. These types of flashes make it more feasible that he’ll be comfortable in a similar role in the NBA.
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Defense
Catch-and-shoot
Lewis’ enticing athleticism gives him room to be a plus defender in the association. However, for that to happen, he has some areas to work on in the next few years. One of his tendencies that gets in his way is to combine ball-watching with unnecessary motion. In the first play below, he sees dribble penetration coming, and as a response, Lewis puts one foot on the perimeter line despite his assignment being the weak-side shooter who relocated to the corner. That one step out made it difficult to switch and sprint to close out. Even if he’d make it, the last step and balance would have been a tough thing to manage physically, making him vulnerable to getting burned with a fake regardless.
In the second possession, we see a similar example. He’s ball-watching and doesn’t see his assignment relocate more toward the corner to create a straight-line driving lane if he chooses to attack the closeout. But with Lewis stepping out, the pass made it enough for the recipient to get a wide-open three-pointer against him. This continues in the third play below, where Lewis does well to rotate to the mid-post and tries to create a deflection off of the bailout pass. However, his fluidity and good hips led him to counter and fully close out despite his lack of balance. These are vital flashes for NBA scouts to determine how much athleticism can translate to improving a team’s defensive rating. But for that to happen, Lewis has to unlearn his tendency to ball-watch. In the fourth play below, that costs him three points as he positioned himself well but wasn’t aware of his assignment relocating to the corner before the pass took place.
Catch-and-drive
Regardless, Lewis' closeouts will earn him the chance to develop into one of the premier perimeter defenders in the NBA. The combination of his high-end foot speed compared to his last step makes it feasible for a team to improve its defensive rating with him on the floor, especially when he gets rid of his tendency to ball-watch. Lewis shows a high level of fundamentals where he understands that his last step is a combination of him creating balance while putting his feet to sliding mode, but also stopping a ball handler to immediately pop and use dribble penetration against him.
Lewis influences an opponent’s driving lane. In the first play below, we see him pivot his foot strongly before following his ball handler. Despite giving up separation before the stepback, Lewis quickly corrects himself with one pivot before elevating his burst and closing out for the second time. Usually, young prospects rush their closeouts on that end, making it more likely they’ll get burned. But Lewis shows a high-level understanding while already mastering his athleticism to put himself in the best position to counter any advantage creation ball handlers get against him.
In the second possession below, Lewis pivots with his left to force the ball handler to drive toward the baseline. He controls the drive well by using his long wingspan before he uses his strength advantage to bump his opponent out of balance before he enters his shooting stance. It continues in the third play below, where Lewis again closes out with a great last step. Hereafter, he positions himself toward the strong side, luring the defender to drive into the weak side with help nearby. Regardless of help defense being there, Lewis knows he can control the drive with his lateral quickness while using his physicality and upper-body strength to put the scorer out of balance. This type of closeout defense makes it likely Lewis can hold his own against more explosive guards in the NBA.
Pick-and-roll
This continues in Lewis’ pick-and-roll defense. The versatility of his profile is his foot speed to cover against ball handlers, while he has decent size and great strength to play in the second line of defense to be more creative and go over screens, hard-hedge, or even blitz ball handlers. The NBA wants to lessen its drop coverage schemes to counter today’s four, or even five-out-styled offenses. That’s where Lewis’ athleticism and ability to master his physical tools come into play.
In the first play below, Lewis shows he’s advanced on that end with how quickly he sets and pivots his feet. He’s using his long arms to tag incoming screeners to create a cushion to throw himself between the screener and ball handler. Regardless, ball handlers know that if they reject the screen, Lewis is in the advantage with his quickness. In this case, the ball screen was utilized, and Lewis did well to close out hard with a pushoff against the screener. This continues in the second possession below, where Lewis does well to use his wingspan to tag the incoming screener. However, he was too reactive when the screen was rejected, losing his balance after the stepback.
In the third play below, Lewis serves on the weak side with dribble penetration, leading to a collapsed defense. It’s not a red flag that he’s too reactive on this play. For NBA coaches, motivating him to be much more aggressive is a must, especially considering his 1.9 personal fouls per game, where he can afford to be more aggressive. The fourth play is another example, as the ball handler got the advantage against Lewis who feared the foul and was too cautious. An enticing athlete like himself should always play with more aggressiveness.
Cuts
For the NBA, Lewis’ playing minutes early on in his career will depend on how much his lack of experience will hurt a team’s offensive rating. That’s where his defense away from the ball comes into play. As mentioned, his hesitancy and reactive play can often put him in a tough position. He’s making the right reads but looks too careful in executing, while he fears picking up unnecessary fouls. That’s the other side of the medal regarding his physical strength and advantage over most opponents.
In the first play below, Lewis sees everything happen. He’s not playing as tough and hard as he should, with it being clear the ball handler was hitting his assignment, who smartly cuts to the rim while putting Lewis on the outside of the basket. Lewis tried to compensate by using his length to deflect the pass. In the second possession, Lewis did well to step in to dribble penetration, offering timely help while the ball handler didn’t have balance or control of the ball. If he stays put and doesn’t move, that’s a charge drawn by him. But Lewis looked hesitant and eventually stepped out to make room for the dropoff pass. He’s making the right reads, which makes it surprising to see some of these errors.
In the third play, he’s losing the experience battle. The opposing five knew Lewis wasn’t positioned properly with one foot inside the paint. That led to him locking Lewis, whereafter he had to put the intentional foul to take away two points at the rim. The fourth play is another example of Lewis’ lack of experience as he stepped in timely for help but fully gambled on the ball handler to finish the play against two defenders while his assignment was waiting for the dropoff pass underneath the basket. Lewis has to play more minutes to earn and improve his execution on his reads.
NBA Draft Projection
Based on the strengths and areas of development mentioned in this scouting report, I project Malique Lewis to hear his name called at the 2025 NBA Draft. The defensive potential is a clear value riser of his profile. However, on the offensive end, it will take time before Lewis can fully support a team’s offensive rating. He’s too reliant on play finishes and transition offense. That makes it more likely others have to set him up as he doesn’t show enough creativity and shot-creation off the dribble, with limited execution as a closeout attacker.
Regardless, the defensive value prevails for Lewis, who’ll likely sign a guaranteed contract as a second-rounder as his size, enticing athleticism, and professional experience on both American soil while also having the minutes in the FIBA-ruled leagues make it easier for NBA coaching staffs to continue to develop him into a niche role. The shooting is a question mark with enough doubt if he’ll be an average shooter in the future. That’s the main swing skill.