Indiana Swapped a Former 1st-Rounder for a Young Guard
Indiana sent T.J. Leaf and a 2027 second-round pick to Oklahoma City for Jalen Lecque on November 25, 2020. Leaf had been the No. 18 pick in the 2017 draft but had fallen out of the Pacers' rotation by the end of his third season. Lecque was only 20 and had arrived in Oklahoma City days earlier through the Chris Paul trade with Phoenix. The Pacers were effectively exchanging a player they had already moved past for a younger developmental guard, but attaching a future second made the bet more expensive than a straight prospect swap.
Lecque Barely Reached the Pacers' Rotation
Lecque appeared in four regular-season games for Indiana in 2020-21, totaling 12 minutes, five points, five rebounds and two assists. The Pacers assigned him to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in January, recalled him in March and waived him on March 25. His NBA career ended after nine total games across Phoenix and Indiana. That leaves very little realized return for a team that surrendered both Leaf and a future pick. The idea of buying a younger upside guard was reasonable; the actual result was four brief appearances and no lasting roster value.
Leaf Never Played a Regular-Season Game for Oklahoma City
The Thunder did not extract on-court value from Leaf either. Oklahoma City acquired him as a 23-year-old former 1st-round pick and described him as a frontcourt player who might benefit from a new opportunity, but the experiment lasted only through training camp and preseason. The Thunder waived Leaf on December 18, 2020, before he appeared in a regular-season game for the franchise. That keeps this from being a player-development win for Oklahoma City and is why the canonical grade stops at B instead of climbing higher.
The 2027 Second Is the Durable Piece
The trade still leans toward Oklahoma City because the Thunder retained Indiana's 2027 second-round pick after Leaf was waived. As of October 2026, that selection has not yet been made, so the asset should be treated as unresolved rather than credited with a future player or draft slot. Its value is simply that Oklahoma City turned Lecque, who produced almost nothing for Indiana, into an additional draft asset that survived beyond both players' time with their new teams. The Pacers' side ended in March 2021; the Thunder's side still contains a live piece entering the 2027 draft cycle.
Final Verdict
Oklahoma City Thunder Win — Indiana C+, Oklahoma City B. Indiana received only four games and 12 minutes from Jalen Lecque before waiving him in March 2021. Oklahoma City got no regular-season minutes from T.J. Leaf and waived him in December 2020, so the player-for-player portion produced little for either side. The difference is Indiana's 2027 second-round pick, which remains an unresolved but still-live asset as of October 2026. That future selection gives the Thunder more durable value from a transaction in which neither incoming player became part of the receiving team's long-term rotation.