Indiana Pacers trade first-round disappointment T.J. Leaf

The Indiana Pacers have traded T.J. Leaf and a second-round pick to Oklahoma City for Jalen Lecque, a 6-3, 185-pound shooting guard, according to ESPN.

Leaf was a disappointment after the Pacers selected him 18th in the 2017 draft, one spot ahead of John Collins (who has averaged 16.2 points and 8.8 rebounds). Leaf averaged 3.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in three seasons with the Pacers and didn't develop into the stretch 4 he was projected to be after one season at UCLA, shooting 26.5% on 3-pointers his last two seasons in Indiana.

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IndyStar Pacers Insider J. Michael reported earlier this year that the Pacers were trying to deal Leaf at the trade deadline but didn't find any takers.

Lecque, 20, went from Brewster Academy straight to the NBA after not getting drafted last year. He's a premium athlete and has 456,000 followers on Instagram due to his incredible dunking ability. Lecque has the potential to combine with second-round draft pick Cassius Stanley to give the Fort Wayne Mad Ants viral highlights on a regular basis.

“We’ve had some phenomenal athletes during my 20 years here, but I think Jalen is just another level of athleticism, explosiveness,” Brewster Academy coach Jason Smith told Cronkite News.

It is the second time Lecque has been traded this offseason, earlier going to Oklahoma City (with Ty Jerome, Kelly Oubre Jr., Ricky Rubio and a 2022 first-round draft pick) from Phoenix in the Chris Paul (along with Abdel Nader) trade.

Lecque appeared in 5 games with Phoenix last season, scoring 10 points with 2 rebounds and 2 assists. In 33 games in the G League, he averaged 13.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists.

Contact IndyStar Deputy Sports Editor Nat Newell at (317) 444-6182 or nat.newell@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NatJNewell.