Photo: Tyler Kaufman / Associated Press

The New Orleans Pelicans decided to draft Kira Lewis Jr., after they chose to trade away Jrue Holiday in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, and draft compensation.

The speedy Alabama guard is expected to play alongside Lonzo Ball in the New Orleans’ perimeter, as head coach Stan Van Gundy stated in his post-draft media availability.

(via USA Today Sports):

…”We’re excited about Nickeil Alexander-Walker and now Kira (Lewis). I think there’s going to be a lot of teams with two guys that you would probably classify as point guards but you can play them together.”

“I think we’ve seen with some teams, like Oklahoma City this year, was three point guards with Chris Paul and Dennis Schroder and Shai-Gilgeous Alexander,” Van Gundy continued. “They were playing three guys like that. I think it’s a trend of ‘Get as many playmakers as you can on the floor.’ You might give up a little size at times, though certainly with Lonzo we don’t. And those guys are going to go out and play really hard and be very tough to guard off the dribble and make plays for each other.”

Ball was sharing the court mainly with Jrue Holiday last season, while there were times that he, Frank Jackson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker played also together in the back-court.

After Jrue Holiday’s trade, his minutes for the upcoming season are expected to be shared among Ball, Eric Bledsoe, Kira Lewis Jr., and George Hill.