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Should The Washington Wizards Draft Trey Lyles?

By Josh Wilson

Apr 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Trey Lyles (41) dunks the ball during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers of the 2015 NCAA Men's Division I Championship semi-final game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Steppig/NCAA Photos-Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports
Apr 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Trey Lyles (41) dunks the ball during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers of the 2015 NCAA Men's Division I Championship semi-final game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Steppig/NCAA Photos-Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports /
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This year’s draft is pretty important for the Washington Wizards. Head coach Randy Wittman has already expressed that he feels it’s time to have a different approach with the lineup next year, alluding to needing a stretch-4 to comply with the way the rest of the league plays.

The days of traditional big men are just about over, and unfortunately, Wittman didn’t seem to realize that until the playoffs came around, and by then it was too late to perfect.

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The Kentucky freshman forward Trey Lyles had some great success last year, and felt he was ready to declare for the NBA draft. Although he’s young, and has his fair share of rookie kinks to work out, could he be a good option for the Wizards to have?

Per game last season, Lyles averaged just over eight points in about 23 minutes per game. That’s a stat that certainly doesn’t wow us right away, but with Lyles, there’s more than meets the eye.

The Good

Here’s something Kentucky fans will definitely miss from Lyles next year: his ability to soar and catch lobs for dunks.

He did this often in Kentucky, and watching highlight videos of his lobs, it’s tough to not picture a great guard like John Wall or Bradley Beal throwing up these lobs to Lyles. It seems like a combination that would do well.

He’s not just good at catching lobs, either. He did a decent job of setting up his Kentucky teammates with lob passes for throw downs.

This video in particular was on a fast break, and Lyles has shown he’s a great fast break component that can get an offense rolling at a very quick pace. His athletic yet quick build makes him dangerous to defenders as he barrels down the court. And since he can decently lob the ball up, or catch lobs, it makes him pretty unpredictable.

Lyles is pretty good on the offensive boards, which is a great skill to have if he can translate it to the NBA. Lyles averaged just under two offensive boards per game at Kentucky, which is a decent amount for the amount of minutes he got.

Head coach John Calipari had lots of good things to say about Lyles. At one point, he exclaimed that, “Trey Lyles is as good as anybody in the country.” I would take anything Caliper said about his players with a grain of salt, though. He constantly spoke highly of everyone in order to keep a positive motivating attitude (which did seem to work), so who knows if he really meant that about Lyles.

The Bad

A lot of us are questioning Lyles’ choice to declare for the draft. He spent just a year at Kentucky, and could’ve proven more as a college player with more playing time in the coming years. The sample size that NBA teams have from him at college now is quite small compared to other players available, and will end up hurting his stock.

In addition to this, his one year of college ball leaves him slightly inexperienced, and it’s been brought up that he’s not fully developed. Additionally, he faced very little adversity at a competitive college level, only ever losing one game at Kentucky. Although most don’t see this as important, he’ll be losing more in the NBA, something he hasn’t done a whole lot of lately.

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Especially as the Wizards and other teams look for a stretch-4, he needs to be more developed. He doesn’t have the range yet to be a stretch-4, as he won’t be able to effectively bring the defense out.

The word eventually adequately describes Lyles impact on a team, pointing to the fact that he’s not matured enough as a player to be a stretch-4. Wittman is also leery to play rookies who don’t have much experience, and Lyles definitely wouldn’t get a whole lot of time under this mindset.

His three-point shot is not good at all. He shot just 13.8 percent from three last season, another reason he can’t be an NBA stretch-4 yet.

It’s no secret that he’s struggled with conditioning, and could be a reason he didn’t get a whole lot of minutes last year. In the NBA, this is alarming, as you don’t want players who will run out of gas quickly.

The Verdict

The lack of range Lyles brings points to him not being ready to convert to being a stretch-4 that the Wizards so desperately need. They could draft him, develop him, and use him somewhere down the road, but there is no telling how long that will take.

Overall, Lyles is a good player who can likely transition his fast break skills and athleticism to the NBA, but he shouldn’t be a priority for the Wizards. Sure, if all their other options have been exhausted by the time their pick comes around, and Lyles is still available, he should be considered, but the lack of experience he brings is extremely unsettling. I wouldn’t get too excited about seeing Lyles as a Wizard next season.

Next: 5 Potential Steals In The 2015 NBA Draft

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