Cavs should consider signing Trey Lyles if possible on minimum deal

After the Denver Nuggets went out and reportedly traded for Jerami Grant, they then rescinded the qualifying offer on Trey Lyles, making him an unrestricted free agent, and the Cleveland Cavaliers should consider signing Lyles if possible on a minimum deal.

Trey Lyles was highly-rated by some coming out of Kentucky, as he had a long wingspan (at a listed 7-foot-4, per NBA.com) and showed great hustle and an above average basketball IQ.

Though Lyles only averaged 8.7 points (on 48.8% shooting) and 5.4 rebounds per game (per Sports Reference), he had plenty of potential. That potential led Lyles to be drafted 12th overall by the Utah Jazz, one spot ahead of the Phoenix Suns, who took another Kentucky standout, in Devin Booker.

Lyles was mostly inconsistent in his time with Utah and after only two seasons, was reportedly dealt to the Denver Nuggets along with what would eventually be Tyler Lydon, who acquired the rights to Donovan Mitchell, the would-be 13th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft (as was initially reported by Adrian Wojnarowski, then of The Vertical and now of ESPN).

While Lyles did improve in 2017-18 with Denver (with 9.9 points on 56.6% effective field goal shooting, including a 38.1% clip from three-point range, to go with 4.8 rebounds), those numbers dipped last season, despite getting nearly the same amount of playing time with just 1.6 minutes less per contest at 17.5 minutes per game, per Basketball Reference.

With the addition of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Jerami Grant via trade (as was reported by Wojnarowski) for a first-round pick and the likely debut of Michael Porter Jr. for Denver, this would make it even tougher for Lyles to get consistent minutes on a reasonably deep Nuggets’ roster, and as a result, Denver ended up rescinding the qualifying offer they initially reportedly extended to Lyles and he is now an unrestricted free agent, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

This is where the Cleveland Cavaliers can step in, and maybe take a flier on a player like Lyles.

There may not be much of a market for him, given the drop in production, and it seems reasonable that the Cavaliers can add him for minimum contract money, as he’s been very inconsistent in his career to this point; last year, for reference, Lyles made just over $3.36 million (per Spotrac) in a team option for his fourth year. In 2019-20, given that Lyles has four years of NBA experience, he would be set to make just over $1.737 million on a minimum deal (per Hoops Rumors’ Luke Adams).

With where the Cavaliers are positioned now, they can afford to sign Lyles and see what he can provide. With forwards Kevin Love, Cedi Osman, and Larry Nance Jr. all likely penned in as starters early on into next season, Lyles’ role would likely be a reserve role (at 15 or so minutes per night) and he would be asked to provide energy on both ends of the floor.

In today’s NBA, it is imperative that even the big men can shoot from beyond the arc, and Lyles has shown the ability to hit those shots. In fact, for the first three years of his career, Lyles connected on 36.1% of his long-range shots (per Basketball Reference).

However, that number dipped drastically to 25.5% last season on a volume of 3.1 attempts per contest. Again, there is a solid shooting stroke from Lyles, though (as shown below, courtesy of Down To Buck) and maybe with consistent run on a rebuilding team, Lyles can put it together more often and be a good pick-and-pop big in spurts.

More from King James Gospel

• 3 possible starting lineups for Cleveland Cavaliers in 2023-24
• The Cavaliers may have snagged a hidden gem in Craig Porter Jr.
• 4 players the Cavaliers should pursue in 2024 free agency
• 6 players Cavaliers might replace Jarrett Allen with by the trade deadline
• This stat is one to keep an eye on for Cavaliers’ Max Strus in years ahead

Lyles appears to be aggressive when rebounding at times but possibly lacks consistency, or it could be due to the fact he plays less than 20.0 minutes per game; thus far, his career-high in rebounding is 4.8 per game and his best rebounding percentage is 14.0% (per Basketball Reference).

As crazy as this may sound, especially in today’s game, Lyles may be someone who is labeled a “tweener.”

He tends to have trouble staying with quicker, athletic forwards and cannot always match strength with bigger forwards on the block.

With such a long wingspan, Lyles can contest players’ shots rather well, and his straight-line speed gives him the ability to run the floor rather well at times for someone his height.

Lyles’ game looks to be more an offensive finesse style, though, as he has hit over 52.0% of his shots from inside the arc the past two seasons.

To sum all of this up as neatly as possible, with the Cleveland Cavaliers in full-on rebuild mode, taking a look at Lyles on a league-minimum deal if possible would be little risk; for the record, that’s the kind of contract they could realistically do this offseason, as Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor noted (and he also touched on how Cleveland seemingly will have one or two roster spots open going into 2019-20).

Along with that, that’d especially be the case with Cleveland potentially trading Tristan Thompson and/or John Henson at some point maybe this offseason or mid-next season, as both are on expiring contracts (I would imagine the buyout market could be an option for one/both, too).

At worst Lyles will be a guy who does not produce consistently and does not make it a full season with the team, as they maybe could trade him or waive him to give another player a shot.

At best Lyles could be a solid role player for the Wine and Gold, who can eat up minutes at the four or five spots, and contribute on both sides of the floor as a rotational big shooter and/or decent rebounder.

After all, Lyles still is only 23 years old, and could still be on the way to reaching his full potential.

Plus, it would not hurt for the Cavaliers to have a forward like Lyles on their roster, who seems to have a nice blend of length, speed, and scoring ability .