Trey Lyles, at this point, may be one of the most forgotten men in the NBA. Hardcore Canadian nationalists may still remember his existence, and Nuggets fans also, but that’s about it. He was anonymous even as the 12th pick in his rookie year, and he’s only gotten worse since then.
It took Paul Millsap getting injured for Denver to give him any real minutes, but it’s not going as badly as I thought it would. He’s not the world’s greatest Millsap replacement, but he’s passable. As in, he doesn’t try to do too much on offense and at least attempts to play defense. And the advanced stats say he’s not too much different, impact-wise. It’s early, but I feel like he’s having a bit of a resurgence now.
He looked supremely competent tonight against the Lakers, scoring 18 on 9 shots. Meanwhile, Darrell Arthur continues to not ever play. I didn’t think Lyles would be ahead of many people on the depth chart to start the season, but I think even the ashes of my grandpa are ahead of Arthur right now.