Utah Jazz 2016-17 season review: Trey Lyles
By Adam Coffman
Strengths
One of the main reasons Lyles was so attractive to the Jazz and other teams as a draft prospect was his physical profile. At 6’10” and 234 pounds, he has ideal size for the modern power forward position, and his 7’1″ wingspan only adds to the appeal.
For his size, Lyles is very fluid and moves well up and down the court — so well that he even played small forward at times during his one season at the University of Kentucky.
The potential for him to develop into a more potent stretch-4 or small-ball center is certainly there, although he hasn’t yet put this potential to use.
His rookie year, Lyles shot 38 percent from behind the arc on 1.6 attempts per game. He has the ability, once he’s hit a couple of shots, to put the ball on the floor and attack closeouts, particularly against bigger defenders.
Although he isn’t as comfortable executing complex defensive schemes as you would hope, Lyles shows the potential for being able to switch onto opposing guards in screen situations without surrendering easy buckets.
He’s still very malleable in that the Jazz could take his development in a number of directions depending on what fits the arc of their team the best.