Saskatoon-born Lyles heads to Utah Jazz
Minnesota takes Kentucky’s Towns No. 1 overall; Raptors select guard Wright at No. 20
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz selected Canadian Trey Lyles with the No. 12 pick of the NBA draft on Thursday night.
The 6-foot-10, 241-pound forward from Kentucky is versatile with strong ball-handling skills for his size.
Lyles, who was born in Saskatoon before moving to Indianapolis at a young age, averaged 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds for the Wildcats and was named to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman team after his lone collegiate season.
He is the first Saskatoon-born player to be drafted.
The Jazz went into the off-season needing shooting after averaging the fifth-fewest points per game last season. Frontcourt depth became a priority after the team moved Enes Kanter to the Thunder at the deadline. Lyles could fill a stretch-four role one day, though he shot just 13.8 per cent from 3-point range. He worked out with the Jazz on June 13 and said he wasn’t able to show all of his game on a Kentucky roster that had four players selected in the first 13 picks. Minnesota selected Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns with the first pick in the NBA draft on Thursday night, the first of three straight freshmen chosen before New York chose Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis, triggering boos from their fans inside Barclays Center. The Timberwolves went for a centre in their first time owning the No. 1 pick. They can add him to a young roster featuring Toronto native Andrew Wiggins, who was picked first last year by Cleveland and later dealt to Minnesota in the Kevin Love trade.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors selected Utah guard Delon Wright with the No. 20 pick. The 6-foot-5 Wright provides depth at the point guard spot. The 23-year-old from Los Angeles is a versatile player, ranking in the top 10 in the Pac-12 in scoring, assists and steals. The Raps traded backup guard Greivis Vasquez to the Bucks earlier in the evening.