Trey Lyles

Lyles has struggled to find a meaningful role in the NBA since being drafted 12th overall in 2015. He's never ranked higher than 203rd in fantasy on a per-game basis, and that's when he saw 19.1 minutes per game with the Nuggets and averaged 9.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists. There's certainly a chance he sees that kind of run on the rebuilding Pistons given that the team is pretty thin in the frontcourt. Still, he'd primarily be a floor-spacer. Over the past two seasons, he's taken nearly half of his shots from three and converted at a 38.0 percent clip. In a very deep fantasy league, Lyles might be worth a flier with a final pick, but his upside is relatively low, and he'd be a quick drop candidate if he wasn't seeing roughly 20 minutes per game.

After two seasons each with Utah and Denver, Lyles arrived in San Antonio for his first campaign with the Spurs in 2019-20. In his first season with his new team, Lyles averaged 6.4 points and a career-high 5.7 boards, while logging the most minutes of his career (20.2). The Kentucky product started 53 games, but his numbers weren't much different when he was in the starting lineup versus off the bench. Lyles saw increased run to close the season as a result of LaMarcus Aldridge's shoulder injury, and the former averaged 28.8 minutes of run from Feb. 1-March 10. Lyles missed the Spurs' final eight games due to a bout of appendicitis, though he's expected to be fully healthy when play resumes for the 2020-21 season. As it stands now, Lyles is expected to back up Jakob Poeltl and shift from a starter to a reserve role, though Poeltl is a restricted free agent, and where he plays will likely impact Lyles' playing time moving forward.

After a strong 2017-18 season, Lyles saw a fairly significant drop in usage and production with the Nuggets last season, and it got to the point where Lyles had essentially played himself out of the rotation. The biggest reason was Lyles becoming a non-factor from behind the arc, as the 23-year-old shot just 25.5 percent from deep after shooting an excellent 38.1 percent the year prior. Lyles' offensive game is not strong enough in other places to make up for such poor shooting. Now, he will get a fresh start in San Antonio after signing a two-year contract with the Spurs late in free agency. While the Spurs are obviously secure at the power forward position with starter LaMarcus Aldridge, question marks arise afterwards with Rudy Gay being his backup, as the 32-year-old Gay has played an average of just 52 games per season over the last three years. With Gay unlikely to be healthy for the entire 82-game season, Lyles could emerge as Aldridge's backup for certain stretches next season and have a shot at giving his young career new life.

In his first campaign with Denver, Lyles had trouble finding a bigger role than he occupied during the previous two seasons in Utah. He came off the bench to see 19.1 minutes per game and averaged 9.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists. The Kentucky product did see a significant boost in efficiency, however, shooting 49.1 percent from the field, 38.1 percent from deep and 69.7 percent from the charity stripe, raising his true shooting percentage to 59.0 compared to 49.1 percent over his first two years. That said, as is the case with all Nuggets frontcourt players not named Nikola Jokic or Paul Millsap, it’s hard to imagine Lyles seeing a much bigger role come 2018-19. His best chance at finding time might be if he can find a way to play at small forward, considering the departure of Wilson Chandler. However, Lyles has only played power forward and center across his first three years as a pro.

Lyles has a hard time solidifying a role in Utah, though a fresh start in Denver could be what he needs to help unlock some of his untapped potential. The Jazz flipped him for draft pick Donovan Mitchell last month, which proves the Nuggets believe the Kentucky product still has some upside. After a solid rookie season in which Lyles started 33 games, he regressed in his second year by seeing a decline in the majority of his numbers. In fact, Lyles played played just 16.3 minutes, while shooting just 36 percent from the field and 32 percent from three-point range. With the switch to Denver, Lyles isn't necessarily going to see an easier path to playing time. The Nuggets added superstar Paul Millsap in the offseason and have guys like Wilson Chandler, Kenneth Faried, Tyler Lydon and Darrell Arthur, all of whom could see time at the power forward position. That should leave Lyles in a relatively small bench role, severely limiting his upside as a Fantasy target.

Lyles was selected by the Jazz with the 12th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft and is expected to begin his professional career in a role off the bench as a stretch-four. The rookie is coming from the University of Kentucky where he played in a platoon system which limited him to just 23 minutes per game while averaging 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds. His soiree in the Summer League didn't get off to a great start, but he ended up averaging 11.3 points, on 32 percent shooting, after six outings playing 24 minutes per game. Heading into the regular season, he'll be eased into the league as a limited player off the bench, and it appears that veteran Trevor Booker will be his main competition for minutes. Over time, Lyles could completely edge out Booker, but coach Quin Snyder will likely lean on Booker in the first portion of the season since he's a reliable rebounder while Lyles still has a lot to prove. As it stands, the rookie won't appear on many draft boards for standard-sized leagues this season, but he'll be worth monitoring as the year progresses and certainly may warrant a waiver wire addition as both he and the season mature.