Detroit Pistons: Why Trey Lyles is an upgrade from Tyler Cook

Detroit Pistons: Trey Lyles and Tyler Cook have flaws, but it’s which flaws that make the difference

Both Tyler Cook and Trey Lyles have major flaws in their games, which is why they weren’t hugely coveted free agents when they hit the market.

Lyles has never been much of a rebounder and isn’t a guy who is going to score a ton of points or make plays. He’s a pretty good defender, but not elite, so like I said, this was not a major signing.

But he can do one thing the Detroit Pistons need, which is shoot the 3-point shot. The Pistons were abysmal in this area last season, a fact that didn’t stop them from chucking long-range shots anyway, as it is a big part of Dwane Casey’s offense.

To Casey’s credit, his offense often created open looks from 3-point range, but the Pistons just didn’t have anyone to knock them down. Lyles has shot as high as 38.7 percent from long range on nearly three attempts per game, which will give the Pistons another shooter for Casey to utilize off the bench.

Tyler Cook is a better athlete than Lyles and probably has more potential as a shot blocker, but he adds nothing on offense except dunks. He rarely ever shot the ball outside of five feet, so a guy like Cook isn’t going to help Cunningham or Hayes unless they are in transition, otherwise he is just taking up space.