NBA Free Agency: Pistons, Trey Lyles agree to two-year, $5 million deal

The report comes courtesy of Yahoo’s Chris Haynes:

(Trey Lyles not only gets to be with Klutch, he gets Rich Paul instead of one of their other guys? Dang.)

The Detroit Pistons add more shooting from their big men positions (hopefully?) with the addition of Trey Lyles – a running theme of their acquisitions so far in this short offseason. Lyles shot 35 percent from three in a mere 23 games in 2020-21, but shot 38 percent in 2019-20 in a larger sample for the Spurs.

Why was that sample smaller in 2020? Let’s turn to our good friends at Pounding The Rock:

Lyles was Lyles was a healthy scratch for San Antonio’s season-opener against the Memphis Grizzlies, and he picked up 13 DNPs by the time Valentine’s Day rolled around. Though the floor-spacing forward was admittedly so-so across his sporadic minutes, he formulated some momentum as a spot starter, averaging 12.2 points per game on 51/46/75 shooting splits in the five games leading up to All-Star Weekend.

Trey floundered to the tune of one point in 34 minutes over San Antonio’s next three contests and quickly found himself in the doghouse once more, racking up five consecutive DNPs ahead of a reported trade request from his representatives at Klutch Sports Management on March 23.

So it’s fair to say Lyles had an uneven last year for the Spurs, which only matches his uneven career to date in the NBA.

With only $5 million in reported money (and perhaps a team option or a partial guarantee on the second year to be reported later?) this is a low-cost flier on a former lottery pick for Detroit. You can’t call it a second draft because this will be Lyles’ fourth NBA team, but you have to hope that Lyles can find his stroke in Detroit.

The other part of this signing that makes you stroke your chin thoughtfully is the potential ramifications on Sekou Doumbouya – another uneven performer at the power forward spot. Doumbouya closed the year well for Detroit, but that was only an eight-game stretch at the end of the season. Could the addition of another formerly heralded underperforming power forward spell trouble for Sekou? We’ll just have to see what else Troy Weaver has up his sleeve this offseason.