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Jazz select Trey Lyles with No. 12 pick

Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

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The Utah Jazz added another promising piece to their budding young frontcourt, selecting Kentucky power forward Trey Lyles with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft on Thursday night.

The top Canadian prospect in the draft has failed to keep up Canada's run of consecutive No. 1 picks. For shame, Trey Lyles.

But that's potentially great news for the Jazz, who land a quality talent at No. 12, albeit one whose eventual NBA role is somewhat unclear. Lyles played out of position for most of his freshman year thanks to Kentucky's interior depth, and he's unlikely to see much time as a small forward in the NBA - not at 6-foot-10-plus.

That could make it tough for him to scratch out minutes in Utah, where Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert are firmly entrenched at the 4 and 5. The Jazz turned into a defensive juggernaut once they made Gobert their starting center midway through the season, but struggled with a congested offense when he and Favors share the floor. Despite being a decent mid-range shooter, Lyles at present has limited floor-spacing ability and likely won't help much at that end.

Still, the confusion over what Lyles will be shouldn't obscure a very obvious skillset. He's a quality passer and ball-handler, and while he needs to add additional strength and extend his range, his intelligence and instincts should make him a fungible two-way piece.

In other words, Lyles is a consummate "does a lot of things well, doesn't excel in one area" player - a power-forward version of Justise Winslow.

Meanwhile, Gobert is ready to give Lyles a warm Utah welcome. True to his word, Gobert has a pink "Hello Kitty" backpack ready for the newest member of the Jazz:

You can read more about Lyles in our scouting report.

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