When the Utah Jazz drafted Trey Lyles out of the University of Kentucky there were a fair share of questions about how he fit long-term for Utah. Despite playing on the perimeter for the Wildcats, Lyles size and lack of real three-point shooting ability seemed to point towards his best position being at power forward. With Derrick Favors already locked into that spot, Lyles playing time looked like it would be sparse early in his career as he adjusted to the NBA game and really a new position.
While that has been the case so far, as Lyles averages just 15.5 minutes per game, every once in a while, Lyles shows flashes of the player that had many people excited about him in June. On Thursday night he did it once again, driving hard from outside the three-point line all the way to the rim for a big jam around Houston Rockets’ big man Clint Capella.
(Vine via Andrew Bailey)
It is plays like those that most big men cannot make and why Utah decided on brining Lyles into their already crowded frontcourt of the future. If Lyles can consistently put the ball on the floor like that the Jazz will have a three-headed big man rotation that very well could rival any other trio in the league in due time.