Which Players Could the Utah Jazz Most Afford to Trade?

Trey Lyles

In my mind, there’s no questioning that Trey Lyles has been a disappointment so far this season. In a recent The J Notes post grading each Jazzman so far this season, Ryan Aston perfectly captured my feelings on Lyles. It’s an excellent piece, so make sure to give it a read in it’s entirety, but for now, I just want to borrow one line from that piece that I felt particularly hit home:

“[Lyles] continues to have big games and big moments, but he’s also been inconsistent on both ends of the floor and even looked selfish at times.”

Lyles’ inconsistent shooting and those selfish moments Ryan alluded to have been quite frustrating this season as have his struggles defensively. With Boris Diaw now in the mix (despite the fact he’s had some struggles as well) Lyles’ role on this team has become a lot less vital.

True, his potential is high and many thought that in a league that has quickly embraced small-ball and stretch-fours Lyles could soon be good enough to even serve as a replacement for Derrick Favors. Nevertheless, he hasn’t quite lived up to that so far this year.

However, while he hasn’t been spectacular and made himself vital to the Jazz yet this season, he has played well enough and has a high enough ceiling that if Utah has enough confidence in Derrick Favors and Boris Diaw carrying them for the next few years, they could potentially net a pretty nice prize by deciding to trade Lyles.

Frankly, I’d say it’s too early to give up on him, but again if the right situation comes up, there’s no reason why the Jazz couldn’t at least consider parting ways with Lyles to bring in reinforcements elsewhere in the form of a proven veteran or a trusty back-up point guard.