Trey Lyles (PF/C, DET): Week 14 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 19% of leagues

ANALYSIS: It was not long ago that Trey Lyles started a few games for the Pistons--he did so before Christmas (he missed a week after that game) and then a couple more times at the start of January. Lyles has been back on the second unit since Jan. 6 but he keeps playing every game, putting up more than viable numbers for fantasy GMs, and his minutes have not stopped growing since those three starts at C a few weeks ago going from 17 MPG before that stint all the way up to 27 MPG in January (seven matches).

Lyles has played phenomenal basketball since he got a confidence boost thanks to those games he started. He's scored at least 10 points in all matches (seven) in which he's played 20+ minutes since then (he fell to 15 min. on Jan. 11 having a horrid outing) while averaging 16+ PPG, is grabbing 7.5+ RPG, dishing out 2 APG, and having 1 SPG and 1+ BPG. The shooting is good, sitting at 50% this month--keep in mind Lyles is far from your average big man, as he's hoisting 2.9 3PA while scoring almost one per game.

The sample is so small that this feels like cheating, but Lyles' 15-7-2-1 average line this month (six games) is on par with the season-long averages of the likes of Vucevic, Adebayo, Miles Bridges, or Siakam, just to name a few. Again, not a truly fair comparison, but you get what Lyles can provide for the cheap price/huge availability. Kelly Olynyk isn't coming back any time soon, Jerami Grant will most probably get traded away, and Detroit has been downsizing at the starting PF/C spots with the pair of Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart. After those two, though, the only fieldable big man is Trey Lyles, so the playing time and the chances should remain there for him ROS.

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