Lewis ready for his moment

26 Jun 2026

“His work ethic is exceptional, his heart is enormous, and he deserves every bit of this moment."

By

nbl.com.au

After two strong seasons with the South East Melbourne Phoenix, exciting young star Malique Lewis lived his dream this past week when he was selected in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.

It caps off an impressive pre-draft process for the Trinidadian wing, who completed six workouts with NBA teams, including the LosAngeles Lakers on Tuesday. Prior to that, Lewis was a standout at the EuroCamp in Treviso, where he averaged 12 points, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game and was selected to the All-EuroCamp team.

“I am so happy for Malique as he has taken the road less travelled to get to this point, and it hasn’t always been easy — but that journey has shaped him into the fine young man and terrific player he is today,” General Manager of Next Stars Liam Santamaria told Code Sports.

“His work ethic is exceptional, his heart is enormous, and he deserves every bit of this moment.

“I want to give enormous credit to Josh King and the South East Melbourne Phoenix as well — they have been outstanding in their support and development of Malique and today is also partly a reflection of their quality as a ball club.”

Prior to the draft getting underway, Fran Fracshilla was high on the potential of the young star, after following his improvement in the NBL across the past two seasons.

“What you like about him is the three and D quality of his game,”he said on ESPN’s Nothing But Net.

“He’s athletic, he’s long, he’s 6’8”, he can put it on the floor and get to the rim… I think he’s shooting is solid and going to get better and better.”

Fraschilla doubled down on what the future could hold for Lewis, stating that while his place in the NBA could look different from that of a lottery pick, will be important to his team all the same.

“I think he has a chance to be a great role player,” he said.

“There’s only 25 stars in the NBA… everybody else is a role player. I think Malique Lewis with his background having been in the G League already, playing down under and having success, I’m excited for him.”

>> Read the full article here: https://www.codesports.com.au/basketball/nba/nba-draft-2026-nbl-next-star-karim-lopez-selected-with-21st-pick-in-new-york/news-story/e6212601c1da8bed28b4461b4db0687f