The J-Notes
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Former Utah Jazz forward Trey Lyles hitting his stride in the NBA

By Ryan Aston

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 5: Trey Lyles #7 of the Denver Nuggets shoots the ball during the game against the Utah Jazz on January 5, 2018 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 5: Trey Lyles #7 of the Denver Nuggets shoots the ball during the game against the Utah Jazz on January 5, 2018 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Following a two-year run with the Utah Jazz, Trey Lyles is hitting his stride as a pro in year three with the Denver Nuggets.

If only a little, Denver Nuggets big man Trey Lyles hinted that there was extra motivation in play when he took the court against his former team on Friday. “It doesn’t matter who it’s going against; another game in the books for me,” he said. The Utah Jazz draftee quickly added “Luckily it was against them.”

The former Jazzman dropped a career-high 26 points against Utah, hitting four 3-pointers and adding seven boards and two steals. In doing so, he keyed a 99-91 win over the Jazz band. Although it was arguably his best game as a pro, the effort was far from anomalous for Lyles.

Since another former Jazz forward, Paul Millsap, went down went down in late November, the Nuggets have leaned more on Lyles, who has come on in a major way of late. Over his last 13 games, Lyles has averaged better than 17 points per game while knocking down 57 percent of his shots and 50 percent from 3-point range.

There’s still some work to be done — Denver currently has a better net rating when Lyles is off the floor. Clearly, though, the 22-year-old is showing the game that the Jazz saw when they selected him over Devin Booker in the 2015 NBA Draft.

For his part, Jazz coach Quin Snyder is happy for Lyles. He doesn’t seem all that surprised by his success either; from the Deseret News —

"“We felt he’s a really good player and I’m happy to see him playing well. I wish we would have done better against him tonight. Obviously what they’re doing here in Denver, he’s embraced it. He’s playing really well and that’s a credit to him and a credit to the Nuggets coaching staff and the way he’s blossomed the way he has right now.”"

At this point, Jazz fans probably have to be happy for him as well. Lyles-over-Booker has been a big-time bugaboo in Jazzland, but, thanks to Lyles, the team was able to acquire draft rights to Donovan Mitchell, who already has pundits and prognosticators thinking “superstar.”

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Becoming your team’s best player less than halfway through your rookie season will do that.

Nevertheless, Lyles has a pretty high ceiling in his own right. He may not have been an instant hit like Mitchell, but the slow build looks more promising by the game.

Inevitably, some will continue to see him as the guy that was taken ahead of Booker or the one that was traded for Mitchell. In the end, though, he’s looking like the guy the Jazz always thought he would be — one of the Association’s most promising young big men.

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