Jalen Lecque suffers ankle sprain, joins injury list
He's a 6-foot-3 guard who was included in the trade for TJ Leaf.
Pacers guard Jalen Lecque suffered a Grade 2 left ankle sprain and is out indefinitely.
The team announced the news Tuesday evening. They were given the day off following a 118-116 overtime win Monday night in New Orleans.
Lecque, a 6-3 guard, is not in the rotation and has not played meaningful minutes. He’s young, but has potential as a versatile guard.
“Jalen is very athletic, can make plays, can really get to the rim,” Nate Bjorkgren said during training camp.
Lecque joins an injury list that includes T.J. Warren (left foot stress fracture), Jeremy Lamb (left knee rehab), Goga Bitadze (right ankle sprain) and Brian Bowen II (partial groin tear).
Over the last few seasons, this organization has steered clear from estimating a timeline to return, instead noting that Lecque is out indefinitely and will be reevaluated in two weeks. In reality, all players are evaluated every day under the care of the team’s athletic training staff.
Born in 2000, he’s just 20 years old and did not play college basketball. After going undrafted in 2019, Lecque signed a four-year free agent deal with the Phoenix Suns. The first two years were fully guaranteed, including this season for $1.5 million.
In November, he was part of the trade with the Thunder so the Pacers could get off the $4.5 million owed to TJ Leaf for the final year of his rookie contract. The Pacers also had to attach a 2027 second-round pick to compete the trade.
Ten days before that was executed, Lecque was involved in the deal that sent Chris Paul to the Suns.
Lecque appeared in two preseason games with the Pacers, averaging 4.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. He was 4 for 10 from the field.