2017 NBA Draft

Trey Lyles remembers just as much about the Nuggets as they did about him. The first time he was in town was in 2015, for a pre-draft workout. The Nuggets were impressed with him. Lyles was just as impressed with the Nuggets and the city.

“Denver was one of the better cities that I went to and I really liked it,” said Lyles in a phone interview with Nuggets.com. “So, I’m looking forward to being there all of the time now.”

After being traded to the Nuggets on Thursday night, he will be. The former lottery pick, with the Utah Jazz, was dealt to the Nuggets in exchange for the rights to the No. 13 pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Louisville guard Donovan Mitchell and the 24th pick (Tyler Lydon).

Lyles knew how much the Nuggets liked him back in 2015.

“Yeah, just from talking to the coaches and management,” Lyles said. “I worked out pretty well. That was one of my better workouts. I shot the ball really well in that workout. I remember that vividly. They told me they liked me a lot and that they hoped they would be able to get back in to be able to have a chance (to draft me). But it didn’t work out that way, but it’s alright because I’m with them now and I’m excited about that.”

The Nuggets liked Lyles’ ability to shoot and get to the rim in a 6-foot-10 package. He showed flashes of that in two seasons with the Jazz but looks forward to the opportunity to play better basketball in Denver.

Looking back at his time with the Jazz, Lyles knows there’s work to be done.

“I played a lot, well, not a whole lot but played a good amount at the beginning of last year,” Lyles said. “Played not to my highest level for a while and lost my minutes and pretty much came out of the rotation and didn’t see the floor at all towards the end of the season. It was an up-and-down season last year. I wasn’t able to do the things that I wanted to.

Lyles says the Nuggets’ offense fits him.

“From what I’ve faced, it’s free-flowing,” Lyles said. “Guys have the freedom to do certain things and I think that’s going to fit my game well. The dribble-drive is going to fit my game well. We did that at Kentucky, so I’m used to that offense.”

Lyles is currently working out in Indianapolis, but will be in Denver on Monday. Improving his footspeed and explosiveness to aid his defense has been a key focus, he said. And he’s already familiar with a few of his new teammates. He and Gary Harris are friends. Though Lyles is from Canada, both attended high school in Indiana. He is very familiar with fellow Canadian Jamal Murray, and says he knows Nikola Jokić from international competition growing up.

“I think another versatile player,” he said. “Somebody who is able to do more than one thing. A playmaker, scorer, shooter, good passer, a good teammate. Somebody who competes 24-7. I hate to lose, so, bringing in a winning attitude and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win the game.”

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New Acquisition Trey Lyles Looks Forward to Fresh Start with Nuggets

On if he can give us an idea of his excitement level.

On what he knows about the Nuggets and what his game fits in to what they are trying to do.

On how his defensive game can transfer playing in a zone at Syracuse.

On what the Nuggets’ front office said about what they liked about you.

On growing up in a small town with three bothers and how that helped him get to where he is now.

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Tyler Lydon's First Interview as a Denver Nugget

After getting within inches of a big draft-night trade, the Nuggets did get a player they’ve long coveted in another -- Utah forward Trey Lyles. Lyles’ acquisition was the highlight in a night where the Nuggets welcomed four new players in total to the Mile High City.

The Lyles trade was essentially a two-for-one swap. The Jazz received the rights to the Nuggets’ 13th pick, Louisville guard Donovan Mitchell, while the Nuggets got Lyles and the rights to Utah’s No. 24 pick, sharpshooting Syracuse forward Tyler Lydon.

In the second round, the Nuggets selected Slovenian forward Vlatko Cancar and Iowa State guard Monté Morris with the 49th and 51st selections, respectively.

Lyles was the big prize. The Nuggets have long liked what they’ve seen from the 6-10 forward, who played his college ball at Kentucky. His pre-draft workout for the team in 2015 solidified their affinity for him, but they only had one first-round draft pick to work with and took guard Emmanuel Mudiay with the seventh overall selection in that draft. Lyles went 12th to the Jazz. There was some symmetry, then, in the Nuggets acquiring Lyles during an NBA Draft.

Nuggets president of basketball operations, Tim Connelly, envisions Lyles as an eventual regular contributor in the rotation.

“He played a lot of minutes for a playoff team,” Connelly said. “Flexibility is what makes him unique. We have a crowded frontcourt and competitive frontcourt, so it’s going to be up to him to earn his stripes. …Lyles is a guy that can step into rotational minutes and make an impact.”

Lyles averaged 6.2 points and 3.3 rebounds for the Jazz last season. And while he didn’t shoot a high percentage from the 3-point line (31.3 percent), he profiles as a player that has the ability to be a real threat from deep.

“We thought the ability to pick up a lottery-level talent, who has some experience -- in addition to a guy like Lydon, who we are pretty high on – while it does not address some of roster jumble that we certainly have to address in the coming weeks, we felt it was too good of an opportunity to pass up two guys like that.”

Moving back in the draft wasn’t too much of a risk, Connelly explained.

“Our thinking in trading back was we didn’t see huge separation in the overall talent from 13-to-24,” Connelly said. “So, we thought we could add two pieces. It would be better than adding a piece at 13 in a very much divided room. … We thought with the ability to take two guys, you can never have enough talented players. It increases your flexibility.”

Lydon made nearly 40 percent of his 3-pointers during his sophomore season at Syracuse. Connelly acknowledged there could be a bit of a learning curve for Lydon defensively, given he played in a primarily zone scheme with the Orange. He’ll be on the Nuggets’ summer league team, as will Morris, a cat-quick guard who boasted the nation’s best assist-to-turnover ratio (5.17). Cancar is expected to spend next season overseas before the team revisits whether to bring him to the Nuggets in 2018-19.

Connelly did say there was a little frustration in not being able to get the big trade over the finish line, when it appeared they would at the start of the night.

“We were very far along in one,” Connelly said. “We thought it was done. At the 11th hour, one of the teams involved had a change of heart. So, I think while we had countless conversations, where was one in particular that we thought...was going to take place. It’s never a deal until you have a handshake and a deal and we never got to that point.”

Christopher Dempsey: christopher.dempsey@altitude.tv or @chrisadempsey on Twitter.

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Second Time the Charm as Nuggets Nab Trey Lyles on Draft Night

The Denver Nuggets have received Trey Lyles and the rights to Tyler Lydon from the Utah Jazz in exchange for the rights to Donovan Mitchell, Nuggets President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.

The Nuggets entered the 2017 NBA Draft owning the 13th, 49th and 51st selections. Denver traded the rights to the 13th pick (Donovan Mitchell) to the Utah Jazz in exchange for third-year forward Trey Lyles and the rights to the 24th pick (Tyler Lydon). Denver also selected Vlatko Cancar with the 49th pick and Monte Morris with the 51st pick of the Draft.

Lyles, 6-10, 234, has played two seasons for the Utah Jazz, averaging 6.1 points and 3.5 rebounds in 151 games (37 starts). The 21-year-old forward from Saskatoon, Canada was selected with the 12th pick of the 2015 Draft after averaging 8.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists in one season at the University of Kentucky. He earned 2015 All-SEC Freshman Team honors while helping lead the Wildcats to a Final Four appearance.

Lydon, 6-10, 215, spent two seasons at Syracuse University where he averaged 11.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 steals in 71 games (34 starts). He was named All-ACC Honorable Mention as a sophomore after averaging 13.2 points, a team-high 8.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.0 steals per game. He was also selected to the All-ACC Academic Team as a sophomore. The 21-year-old New York native was also a member of the 2014 USA Basketball Men’s Under-18 National Team than won the 2014 FIBA Americas Championship.

Cancar, 6-8, 210, is a 20-year old forward out of Slovenia. He most recently played for KK Mega Leks of the Serbian League where he averaged 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 43 games (23 starts) in 2016-17. He spent the two previous seasons playing for LTHCast Skofja of the Slovenian League as well as both the Union Olimpija Senior and Junior Teams.

Morris, 6-3, 175, played four seasons at Iowa State University, averaging 12.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.61 steals in 140 career games (121 starts). He was named All-Big 12 First Team as a senior in 2017 with averages of 16.4 points, 4.8 points, 6.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The Grand Rapids, Michigan native was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team as both a junior and sophomore.

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Nuggets Acquire Trey Lyles and Tyler Lydon from Utah in Draft-Night Trade

In recent years, this current group of Nuggets executives has been so good at mining talent from almost any draft position, that it brought a smile to team president and governor Josh Kroenke’s face when talking about this year’s possibilities.

“I think that our guys have done basically as well as anyone else in the NBA in drafting, particularly in the last three years,” Kroenke said. “As long as we’re drafting well you put yourself in a position to succeed because you’re creating valuable assets out of thin air. And I think that’s what our guys have done.”

There’s no bigger endorsement of the draft work done by the decision-making team led by Tim Connelly, president of basketball operations, and general manager Arturas Karvnisovas, than that. Many of the Nuggets’ starting, and rotation, players – Gary Harris, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Emmanuel Mudiay, Juancho Hernangomez – were drafted by Connelly and Karnisovas since arriving in 2013. Thursday, they’re being asked to conjure up a little more draft magic as the Nuggets enter the day with three picks – Nos. 13, 49 and 51.

How it all ends up? That’s anyone’s guess. But Nuggets’ execs say they are prepared for anything.

If the days leading up to Thursday are any indication, this draft will be at its unpredictable best. The NBA has rarely seen more wheeling-and-dealing prior to the night itself than what has already taken place this year. The Celtics and Sixers swapped the first and third overall picks in a trade. The Lakers added a late first-round draft pick in a trade with Brooklyn. The Hawks and Hornets swapped second-round picks and a few players. More deals are expected.

“You literally can’t predict what’s going to happen in a draft, but you have to be prepared,” Karnisovas said. “I think the second round is the one that is the most live, where you have to adjust every minute of it depending on where you’re picking and who’s available. So, preparation is the key. You spend hours and hours preparing and when the draft comes, you react.”

Connelly agreed, and turned his focus to the general type of player the Nuggets seek.

In their history, the Nuggets have taken at least one player at each of the current draft spots. At No. 13, they took guards Bryant Stith in 1992 and Jalen Rose in 1994. At No. 49, they took forward Leon Powe in 2006. And at No. 51, forward Ronnie Valentine in 1980.

Kroenke likes the talent he sees in both rounds of this year’s draft.

“It’s a deep draft, there’s a lot of good players available all over the place,” Kroenke said. “What we always say is it doesn’t matter where you draft, it matters who you draft. Fortunately for us, we’ve been able to find players all the way from the No. 7 slot all the way down to the bottom of the draft. And, so no matter where we pick, I have absolute faith in our guys that we’re going to pick a guy that’s going to help the Denver Nuggets going forward.”

Christopher Dempsey: christopher.dempsey@altitude.tv or @chrisadempsey on Twitter

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Nuggets Look to Stay Nimble in an Already Unpredictable NBA Draft Landscape

Class: JuniorHt: 6-foot-9Wt: 227 pounds2016-17 Stats: 10.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 1.3 steals

Jordan Bell, the Pac-12’s Defensive Player of the Year, is one of the most underrated players in the draft. Part of the reason for that is a demerit for his age – 22. Part of it is a demerit for an untapped ability to be a true court spacer. He is not a 3-point shooter or long-range jump shooter. Bell, however, is an elite rebounder and defender that is one of the most explosive players in the draft. He was the only player in the conference to be in the top 10 in blocks, rebounds and steals, and shot 63.6 percent from the field.

Offensively, Bell’s most-used action against man-to-man defenses was post ups, but essentially that averaged out to only a few back-to-the-basket opportunities per game. Bell was at his best when he was moving, and it showed, as 41 percent of his offense came from cuts, transition and offensive-rebound put backs. Bell is not a speedster, but ran the court well and was always more-than-willing to finish with a dunk. And around the rim, he could also be creative with his finishing if there was traffic in the way or hands trying to block his shot. His size and strength allowed him to power through contact and finish regardless, or draw fouls. And Bell was an improved free throw shooter, hitting 71 percent from the charity stripe, which was a near 20 percent improvement from his sophomore season.

As a rebounder, Bell was solid. He led the Pac-12 in offensive rebounds (112), tied for second in defensive rebounds (230), was second in offensive rebound percentage (12.3) and was seventh in defensive rebound percentage (22.3). Simply, if there was a rebound to be had for Oregon, Bell was more than likely the player getting it. And he rebounded in traffic as well as out of his area. Bell will need to improve his jump shot. He wasn’t terrible, making 38 percent of his jumpers against man-to-man defenses, but has to smooth out the rough edges to become a true threat that can aid the new wave of NBA offenses.

Defensively, Bell is ready to contribute right now. His defensive rating was a conference-leading 89.0 – one of the best marks in the nation as well. As a shot blocker, Bell not only got a high number of them, but he’s one of the few players that can change a game with blocks. Just ask Kansas, which was on the wrong end of eight Bell blocks in an Elite Eight loss to the Ducks. Bell does most of his damage in coming over as the help defender to block shots. But he can also block the shot of the player he’s guarding. A versatile athlete, he can switch onto smaller players and be effective. Bell got a big chunk of his steals by playing good denial defense and getting into passing lanes. Active hands got deflections, and Bell was near automatic at going coast-to-coast and finishing the play with a bucket on the other end.

Defensively, Bell is ready to play right now. So, any team with sizable reserve minutes available, and needs big impact on the glass and defensively with blocks and steal, can use him now. He’s a developing offensive player, but is not a liability on that end.

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2017 Draft Profile: Jordan Bell

Class: SophomoreHt: 6-foot-10Wt: 225 pounds2016-17 Stats: 13.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 1.0 steals

An honorable mention All-ACC Team selection, Tyler Lydon is one of the best shooters in the NBA Draft. Looking for a quick current NBA comp? Think Houston’s Ryan Anderson. Only, Lydon has a more diverse offensive game that sees him effectively posting up sometimes, as well as rebounding better than Anderson. But it’s his 39-percent average from the arc, Lydon’s ability to be a knockdown 3-point shooter, that has him climbing the charts in the days before the draft. He was an honorable mention All-ACC selection with the Orange in their run to the National Invitation Tournament.

At nearly seven feet tall, Lydon was utilized as a post-up threat first, and he showed good ability to play with his back to the basket, finishing primarily over his left shoulder with small hook shots. But he could also step out and cause matchup problems as a stretch big – and that’s what he’d do in the NBA. Lydon was a stellar jump shooter, averaging 1.175 points per possession on jump shots as a group, and nailing 43 percent of them. In catch-and-shoot situations, Lydon scored 1.25 points per possession and made 42 percent of those shots. That number of makes skyrocketed to 56 percent when he wasn’t guarded. And his 3-point range extended well beyond the line. Lydon, however, will work to improve his ability to shoot accurately off the dribble. It was about his only weakness in jump-shooting.

Lydon battled on the glass, and was effective as a rebounder. He’s not an extraordinary leaper, but got good position and was athletic enough to come down with more than his fair share of boards. Lydon ran the court well in transition, and could stop and pop at the 3-point line as a trailer or dive all the way to the rim, receive the pass and dunk the basketball. On defense, Lydon led Syracuse in blocks, but the vast majority of them were help side because Syracuse plays primarily a 2-3 zone. In many ways, Lydon’s ability to defend in man-to-man situations is still being discovered because Syracuse almost never plays it.

Because of his shooting ability, Lydon’s best fit is on a team that spreads the court well enough for him to get open looks as the recipient of the second or third pass. A team that has reserve front court minutes available and needs bench scoring is a solid fit for Lydon.

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2017 Draft Profile: Tyler Lydon

Head Coach Michael Malone joined Scott Hastings and Tom Helmer in-studio on Altitude Sports Radio to discuss the offseason, pre-draft workouts and the draft, and the outlook for next season and Nikola Jokić.

The interview starts with the group touching on the Nuggets offseason. Since the start of the offseason, the players have been frequent visitors in the Nuggets practice court and weight room. With the gym full of player this week, Coach Malone talked about the meaning of his players putting in the work this offseason.

Hastings and Helmer asked Coach Malone to discuss what pieces the Nuggets need to add this offseason. Coach Malone spoke on the talent the team currently has.

At the 8:30 mark, Malone discusses Emmanuel Mudiay’s role for next season and his summer focus.

The conversation then turns to the topic of defense. Coach Malone commented on focus the team has for improving this area of their game this season.

From the 9:45 mark to 16:30 minute mark, the group discusses defense.

After their discussion about defense in the league, Hastings and Helmer learn Coach Malone will soon be visiting Nikola Jokić in his home country, Serbia.

The group then talks about the improvements Nikola Jokić will work for this offseason.

Hastings and Helmer then ask Coach Malone to describe the relationships his players have developed with one another. Coach Malone gives insight into how the players have become close both on and off the court.

Touching lastly on the Draft, Hastings and Helmer ask Coach Malone what he is looking for during workouts and what type of player the Nuggets are looking to add at the Draft.

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Head Coach Malone Joins Altitude Sports Radio to Discuss Offseason, NBA Draft and More

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