By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Trey Lyles has officially confirmed his departure from Real Madrid following a stellar debut season in the EuroLeague.
In an Instagram video posted on Sunday morning, the 30-year-old Canadian forward shared a clip of himself leaving the Spanish capital by plane.
“Madrid has been great, but it’s time for this,” he noted. “A great experience here, though.”
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Lyles originally penned a one-year contract last summer and leaves the powerhouse club after driving up his market value significantly. He capped off a strong individual campaign by averaging 13.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in Europe’s premier club competition, highlighted by a dominant 24-point performance against Olympiacos in the championship game of the 2026 EuroLeague Final Four Athens, presented by Etihad.
Los Blancos remained interested in retaining the versatile big but faced insurmountable financial hurdles due to the heavy Spanish tax system. Matching the lucrative net offers from outside suitors would require the club to spend over five million euros gross, a move that would completely disrupt their existing internal salary structure.
The Saskatoon native has recently changed his player agency as he heavily prioritizes a return to the NBA, where he previously built a solid ten-year tenure spanning 662 career games.
The 12th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, presented by State Farm, and Kentucky alumnus is now evaluating his options on both sides of the Atlantic. While several EuroLeague powerhouses are aggressively pursuing his signature, Lyles remains fundamentally focused on resuming his career in North America.
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