Veteran forward Trey Lyles, who spent 10 years in the NBA with Utah, Denver, San Antonio, Detroit, and Sacramento from 2015-25, is drawing significant interest from European teams on the heels of a successful season in Spain, writes Alessandro Maggi of Sportando. Relaying reporting from Sport5, Maggi says Real Madrid hopes to re-sign Lyles but is worried about being outbid by rival suitors, including perhaps Fenerbahce and Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Lyles, 30, helped Real Madrid reach this year’s EuroLeague championship by averaging 13.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 20.9 minutes per game across 36 outings in Europe’s top league. He posted an excellent shooting line of .515/.443/.792.
According to Maggi, the expectation is that Lyles would prioritize a return to the NBA over offers from EuroLeague teams if a favorable opportunity arises stateside.
Here are a few more odds and ends from across the basketball world:
- Former NBA guard Armoni Brooks, who made 84 regular season appearances for three teams from 2021-24, is set to join ASVEL in France on a two-year deal, according to Matteo Andreani and Andrea Calzoni of BasketInside (Twitter link). Relatedly, Joey Buss and Jesse Buss – former part-owners and basketball operations executives of the Lakers who were let go by the team last year – are candidates to invest in the French club, as Aris Barkas of Eurohoops details.
- With the NBA’s “3-2-1” lottery reform plan appearing increasingly likely to be approved, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps evaluates the pros and cons of the plan. One added benefit, according to Bontemps, is that the lottery drawing itself is expected to be aired live beginning in 2027. The NBA has typically conducted the lottery behind the scenes and then unveiled the results after the fact in a more viewer-friendly TV broadcast, but the format change could make the drawing itself less confusing to follow live.
- Bobby Marks of ESPN takes a closer look at 20 of this offseason’s top extension candidates, including superstars like Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks and Stephen Curry of the Warriors, and predicts whether or not they’ll end up signing new contracts in the coming months.
- Does Darryn Peterson‘s explanation that high doses of creatine caused his cramping issues at Kansas pass muster? Sarah Todd of The Deseret News speaks to medical experts to make sense of Peterson’s remarks and to get an idea of what NBA teams will be looking for when they evaluate the top prospect’s health.