Former Alabama guard on the move in NBA trade

Former Alabama guard on the move in NBA trade

Former Alabama guard Kira Lewis Jr. will join the Toronto Raptors as part of a three-team NBA trade being reported on Wednesday afternoon by multiple outlets, including NBA.com, the league’s official website.

The Indiana Pacers are acquiring two-time NBA All-Star Pascal Siakam in the trade by shipping guard Bruce Brown and forward Jordan Nwora along with two first-round picks in the 2024 NBA Draft and one first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft to Toronto.

In addition to Siakam, Indiana also will receive a second-round pick from New Orleans.

What the Pelicans are getting out of the deal – in addition to falling below the NBA’s luxury-tax line – has not been announced.

This season, Lewis played in 15 games with the Pelicans. He recorded 44 points, 14 rebounds, 18 assists and five steals in 144 minutes of playing time.

Lewis also played six games in the 2023-24 season with the Birmingham Squadron, New Orleans’ affiliate in the NBA G League. He averaged 21.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.8 steals in those contests.

A two-time first-team All-State player at Hazel Green High School, Lewis averaged 15.9 points, 4.0 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 65 games during two seasons at Alabama.

The 13th player picked in the 2020 NBA Draft, Lewis averaged 6.2 points and 2.2 assists in 16.0 minutes in 78 games with the Pelicans before he sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a grade-2 medial collateral ligament sprain in his right knee during a game against the Denver Nuggets on Dec. 8, 2021.

Lewis didn’t play again for the Pelicans until Dec. 13, 2022, and he appeared in 25 of New Orleans’ remaining 56 games during the 2022-23 season.

In 118 NBA regular-season games, Lewis has averaged 5.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists while playing 13.8 minutes.

Lewis will join a team remade in the past three weeks. On Dec. 30, Toronto acquired Immanuel Quickley and R.J. Barrett from the New York Knicks. Brown will likely join them in the Raptors’ starting lineup.

Lewis leaves a team with a 24-17 record for one with a 15-25 mark.

The Raptors play the Miami Heat at 6:30 p.m. CST Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, then host the Chicago Bulls at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.