Vipers Make Deal Before Trade Deadline
March 4, 2011 - NBA G League (G League)
Rio Grande Valley Vipers News Release
MCALLEN, TEXAS - The defending NBA Development League champion Rio Grande Valley Vipers announced Friday that they have acquired guard Kelvin Lewis (6-4, 195, Houston) from the Texas Legends as part of a three-way deal in which the Vipers trade guard Craig Winder (6-2, 190, Texas), who the Vipers re-acquired earlier in the day, to the Maine Red Claws, who are sending their 2011 6th round draft pick to the Legends.
Lewis is expected to join the Vipers in time for Saturday's game against the Bakersfield Jam at 9:00 p.m. at the Jam Events Center.
Lewis is averaging 8.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 40 games (18 starts) for the Legends while shooting 39.8% from the field and 33.3% from behind the arc. His best game of the season came on January 13 when he scored a career-high 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including three three-pointers, to go with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in a win over the league-leading Iowa Energy.
Lewis played in one game for the Houston Rockets during the 2010 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, scoring eight points in 12 minutes against the Portland Trail Blazers on July 11.
"Kelvin is a player who has been part of the Houston Rockets program, as he was a member of our last summer league team. We value the opportunity to have him back in our environment for development purposes and see him as a potential contributor during our stretch run," said Vipers General Manager Gersson Rosas, who is also the Rockets Vice President of Player Personnel.
Lewis played his freshman season (2006-07) of college basketball at Auburn before transferring to Houston. In 122 games over four seasons, Lewis averaged 12.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.2 steals, He scored in double-figures in 29-of-35 games as a senior (2009-10) and averaged a career-best 18.0 points pre game as a junior (2008-09).
Winder started his career with the Vipers after getting invited to their first training camp out of a local tryout in 2007. During the 2009-10 season, Winder averaged a career-best 14.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He banked-in a three-pointer at the buzzer of Game 2 of the NBA Development League Finals (4/27/10) to give the Vipers their first championship. Winder opened this season with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia, averaging 10.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists in eight games.
"It's hard to put into a short amount of words the impact that he had last year. He joined us and immediately we thought that he was a game changer, and not only was he that, but he played at a consistently high level throughout our entire year. Everyone will remember the shot. The charge he took at the end of the Austin series to win that was crucial. When we had a lot of GATORADE Call-Ups, he averaged about 25 points and carried us at times. He's a great defender and can score it all levels - threes, mid-range and at the basket. He gets a lot of offensive rebounds for a guard. We love him. Our mission is to continue to work with younger and newer players and that's what we have a chance to do with Kelvin. We're happy Craig is back in the league and that we were able to get him to a situation where he can do a good job," Vipers head coach Chris Finch said.
The Vipers roster now stands at 10.
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. College
9 Jon Scheyer PG 6-5 190 Duke
10 Terrel Harris SG 6-5 190 Oklahoma State
11 Jerel McNeal PG 6-3 200 Marquette
15 Patrick Sullivan C 6-9 215 S.E. Louisiana
18 Matt Janning SG 6-4 198 Northeastern
19 Kelvin Lewis SG 6-4 195 Houston
21 Richard Roby SF 6-6 210 Colorado
32 Mouhammad Faye PF 6-10 210 SMU
34 Connor Atchley PF 6-10 225 Texas
41 Arinze Onuaku C 6-9 261 Syracuse
Head Coach Chris Finch (Franklin & Marshall)
Assistant Coaches Paul Mokeski (Kansas)
Jai Steadman (Nebraska)
Johan Roijakkers (ELE College)
Ath. Trainer/Strength & Conditioning Coach Joe Resendez (UT-Pan American)
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