Former Jazzman Trey Lyles starting, but not shooting much for Spurs

Former Jazzman Trey Lyles hasn’t shot this infrequently in his life.

As a high schooler, he was Indiana’s Mr. Basketball, one of the top recruits in the country playing for Arsenal Tech in Indianapolis. In his one year at Kentucky, even playing alongside Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker, Willie Cauley-Stein and four other NBA players, he took nearly 20 shots per 100 possessions. And in the NBA, he’s averaged 16.6 shots per 100 possessions in every season of his career, even playing a small role as a rookie with the Utah Jazz.

But in San Antonio, Lyles has become a role player. He takes only 12 shots per 100 possessions, and his usage rate is all the way down to 13%. He starts, sure, but plays only 18 minutes a game and mostly stays invisible next to DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge. He just fits in.

“Consistency,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich responded when asked what Lyles brings to the Spurs. "He’s really steady. He doesn’t make many mistakes. He just plays a good, solid all-around game and he fits in with everybody else.”

Before playing with the Spurs, Lyles played two seasons each with the Jazz and Nuggets. He was part of the draft-day trade, along with the No. 24 pick Tyler Lydon, that sent Donovan Mitchell to the Jazz in 2017. For a lottery pick, being on a third team in five years isn’t exactly a sign of success.

Lyles isn’t worried about it, though. As he told the San Antonio Express-News, "Adversity can make you great ... I’ve been through ups and downs. You just continue to work and not feel sorry for yourself.”

Jazz sellout streak reaches 100

By virtue of selling out Friday’s home game against the Spurs, the Jazz have now sold out their last 100 home games, including regular season and playoff games.

“It provides you energy. The crowd is not only there, but they’re vocal,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. “They have a feel for the game and the team and what they need.”

The longest home sellout streak in Jazz history is 209 games, set from 1988 to 1993. The longest sellout streak in NBA history is the Dallas Mavericks’ one lasting 815 games that started in 2001, though that one is pretty dubious, given the huge numbers of empty seats that have appeared in Dallas games in recent years.