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Seven Big Men Options for the Pacers in the Draft

By Dylan Hughes

Apr 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) and Wisconsin Badgers forward Frank Kaminsky (44) watch a shot during the second half of the 2015 NCAA Men
Apr 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) and Wisconsin Badgers forward Frank Kaminsky (44) watch a shot during the second half of the 2015 NCAA Men /
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Trey Lyles, PF, Kentucky

Apr 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Trey Lyles (41) dunks during the first half of the 2015 NCAA Men
Apr 4, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Trey Lyles (41) dunks during the first half of the 2015 NCAA Men /

Can you say Hometown Hero 2.0?

At 6’10” and 235 pounds, Trey Lyles is the prototypical power forward you would like to see coming out of college as far as size and frame goes. That alone makes Lyles an attractive option, as he would be able to match up with most PFs around the league.

Lyles is skilled, and would give the Pacers something new at power forward. Indiana wants to change their offensive style to a more outside-in approach, and Lyles’ likeness to the perimeter on that side of the court is a little different than the more banging-in-the-paint style that West plays with.

The problem here might be that he likes the perimeter too much. It doesn’t really fit his position, which some have questioned. He’s built like a power forward, but moves and plays more like a small forward.

Lyles can be savvy when he gets near the basket, but in the NBA, getting there could be a problem. He plays with more fluidity than explosiveness (hence the dilemma on which forward position he is). NBA defenders will not respect Lyles’ mid-range game until he forces them to, meaning if he pump fakes, the defender will not react like they might in college. With his lack of explosiveness, Lyles will have to rely on his savvy to score baskets in the paint. Otherwise, he will attempt to out-jump his defender, but will ultimately be blocked/have his shot altered.

Lyles moves well along the perimeter on the defensive end, but guarding quicker wings as he did in college, he just gets blown by and beat to the basket. At the basket, while defending bigs, his length will do him well in the league as it would any defender, but that doesn’t matter much with his lack of strength. He gets bullied around too much down low, and allowing a player to get too much into your body and too deep into the post makes the length part almost meaningless.

Lyles is worth taking a look, but 11 might be a little too high. As with Looney, a year under West could fix a lot of his weaknesses, but Lyles might take too long to develop into a starter for a team that is looking to contend now.

Next: Myles Turner

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