Lydon ready for sophomore season in NBA

In his first season in the NBA, Pine Plains native Tyler Lydon was limited to playing in just 16 games before suffering a torn meniscus.

The road to recovery was a long one, but Lydon told reporters during media day this week that he is completely healed and ready to begin his sophomore campaign.

“It’s night and day [from summer league to now]. Summer league my knee was still a little stiff, I didn’t have all the strength back,” the Syracuse University alum said. “Now, it feels great, it feels better than before the surgery, better than last year. Confidence wise, it feels great to have my knee back to where it was before, if not better.”

A 2017 first round pick with the Denver Nuggets, Lydon averaged 12.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season while playing with the team’s G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

“I want to do whatever I can to help the team win. If that means going down to development more, if that’s what they want, obviously that’s what I’ll do,” he said about the possibility of returning to the G League. “If they can use me up here, and I get to spend some time up here, that would be great.”

Lydon put on 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason and was one of the Nuggets’ best 3-point shooters during the summer league, draining six buckets from beyond the arc in three games while shooting 46.2 percent from downtown.

Denver opens up the preseason on Sunday with a game against the Los Angeles Lakers.