Toronto Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has some work to do in the offseason. Could he make a move to draft Canadian Trey Lyles?
After being swept in the first round of the National Basketball League playoffs, Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri admitted that he shares at least part of the blame for a disappointing end to the season.
“I think I messed up a lot with the composition of the team, how we played and the types of players we had,” Ujiri said.
Sports Interaction NBA Draft Odds
Beginning with tonight’s NBA Draft, Ujiri is looking at all angles to improve a team that shrivelled away after a fantastic start to last season.
“This year, there’s good depth in the draft, we feel comfortable that we’ll get a player but also, you know what, we might move the pick . . . there’s lots of flexibility this year,” Ujiri added. “The strategy now is to pick the best player available depending on what deals come to us or what deals we make.”
If the cards fall just right, Ujiri might have a chance to announce Trey Lyles’ name tonight. Lyles, who was born in Saskatoon but raised in Indiana, could give the Raptors some help at forward while adding to the Canadian content of the team.
The problem is, if Lyles is the guy the Raptors want, they may have to trade up to get him. Sports Interaction has Lyles’ draft place odds set at No. 13, but there’s talk that he could possibly crack the top 10 or even the first five picks of the draft.
Lyles is considered a little raw and there are some concerns about his offensive ceiling, but at 6-foot-10 and 235 pounds, he showed his versatility playing with the Kentucky Wildcats. He averaged 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds last season despite playing just 23 minutes per game.
“Playing the wing helped me out a lot just by having to chase around smaller guys,” Lyles told reporters at the NBA Draft combine. “Guys who are 6-foot and stuff like that. It helped me in my all around game defensively and offensively. You’re on a team with nine McDonald’s All-Americans, so guys have to share with one another. Transitioning to the NBA, you’re on a team where everyone was a high school All-American, an all-star, all kinds of stuff. So really I think Kentucky helped all of us out.”
Now it’s just a matter of hours until we find out which NBA team Lyles will try to help out. You never know, maybe he’ll be coming back north of the border to suit up with the Toronto Raptors.
