Opportunity can arrive quickly and in unexpected forms in professional sports. In the span of a few minutes, a player can go from benchwarmer to key rotation cog. That’s what happened to Trey Lyles on Nov. 19 against the Los Angeles Lakers. Starting power forward Paul Millsap went down with a left wrist injury, which would eventually require surgery. Suddenly, a player who’d logged double-digit minutes in a Nuggets uniform just once until that point was asked to step up.
Lyles helped keep Denver afloat in Millsap’s absence. In the 44 games Millsap missed, Lyles averaged 13.0 points on 49.8 percent shooting, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists. After two rocky seasons in Utah, he developed into a dangerous weapon off the bench for Denver with his versatile offensive skill set.
Lyles shot 38.1 percent on 3.0 three-point attempts per game. His shooting stroke always looked smooth, but he never combined volume with efficiency until this year. He loved to launch over opposing bigs who didn’t close out properly.
Lyles used the threat of his three-point stroke to set up drives. He took few dribbles and attacked in straight lines. He converted 65 percent of his shots at the rim, according to Cleaning the Glass, which was a dramatic improvement after making less than half of his shots from four feet and in the season prior.
Lyles stayed away from shooting much in the mid-range zones. More than 75 percent of his field-goal attempts came from three-point land or at the rim. When he decided to go to work in the post, he was surprisingly effective. He averaged 1.05 points per possession on post ups, the best mark on Denver’s roster.
His ability to score in a number of ways made him a mainstay in the rotation while Millsap was out. Denver went 24-20 in the 44 games Millsap missed, a mark Nuggets coach Michael Malone was proud of. Lyles was a significant part of that.
When Millsap returned, Lyles’ playing time became more sporadic. He received four DNP-CDs in Denver’s final 22 games. He didn’t play at all in the regular-season finale against Minnesota. On some nights, Malone explained, it was difficult to play four traditional big men; Nikola Jokic and Millsap were going to soak up most of the minutes, and Mason Plumlee was the third big behind them.
“Personally, it was up and down from not playing, to playing a lot, to playing a little bit, to not playing at all,” Lyles said. “But that’s how it goes. This summer I’m looking forward to getting and making sure that I’m playing all the time.”
The 22-year-old Canadian played the best basketball of his NBA career this year. Getting a fresh start in Denver seemed to do him well. His first season as a Nugget marked progress. Lyles said he knows he’s on the right path now, though there’s still plenty of work to do.
“I showed everybody that this was my best year so far without a doubt,” Lyles said. “I felt and feel really comfortable on this team, and I’m looking forward to next season. … I’m not perfect at anything. I really want to improve in ways that makes coach have to keep me on the floor.”
