Lyles is an intriguing fit as our starting PF next year (with Barnes coming off the bench).
For starters, Lyles has a massive size advantage over Barnes:
- 9.25" hand length (0.25" more than Barnes)
- 10.25" hand width (1.75" more than Barnes)
- 6'9" w/o shoes (2" more than Barnes)
- 9'0" standing reach (6.5" more than Barnes)
- 7'1.5" wingspan (2.25" more than Barnes)
- 241.2 lbs (13.4 lbs more than Barnes)
I cited earlier that some of the improvement areas we need to focus on is adding another solid rebounder to the starting lineup (as Huerter, Murray, & Barnes are all below average to average rebounders) and we'd need a PF who can help us protect the rim a bit more than someone like Barnes (Murray is pretty good in this department for a SF already).
- Lyles averages 8.7 REB per 36 min (Barnes averages 4.9 REB per 36 min)
- Lyles averages 0.9 BLK per 36 min (Barnes averages 0.1 BLK per 36 min)
His size, rebounding, and rim protection seem to help address a lot of the issues we're all pointing out, but will the offense drop off a cliff if Lyles replaces Barnes in the starting lineup?
- Barnes averages 16.6 PTS per 36 min on .632 TS% while Lyles averages 16.2 PTS per 36 min on .607 TS% (not a huge difference in volume and efficiency)
- Barnes averages 4.8 3PA per 36 min on .374 3P% while Lyles averages 6.9 3PA per 36 min on .363 3P% (not a big difference in efficiency but Lyles takes almost 1.5X the amount of 3s per minute. I think spacing would at least be comparable)
- Barnes shoots .395 from the 3PT Corner while Lyles shoots .435 from the 3PT Corner (with Huerter and Murray performing the majority of the DHOs at the top of the key, I think having a better 3PT Corner shooter in this position is important).
- Barnes averages 1.7 AST per 36 min while Lyles averages 1.9 AST per 36 min (we shouldn't see a big breakdown in ball movement)
- Barnes has a .171 USG% while Lyles has a .181 USG%
I think we'd all agree that Barnes is a better scorer, gets to the FT line a bit more, can iso a bit, etc. which I think would be pretty effective in our bench unit when we need some scoring help. Lyles' size, length, defense, rebounding, and shooting seems like a good/better fit in the starting lineup on paper. You also have the fact that at the start of next season, Lyles will be 27 and Barnes will be 31.