In April 2009, Tyler announced his intentions to skip his senior year of high school to play professionally abroad. On August 23, 2009, he signed with Maccabi Haifa of the Israeli Super League for the 2009–10 season. On March 19, 2010, he parted ways with Maccabi due to personal matters and headed home to San Diego. Tyler played just 10 games, averaging only 2.1 points and 1.9 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per game.
On July 29, 2010, Tyler signed with the Tokyo Apache of Japan for the 2010–11 season. In 33 games, he averaged 9.9 points on 51.7% shooting and 6.4 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game. The Apache would dissolve soon after he left due to the impact of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Tyler was selected with the 39th overall pick by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2011 NBA draft. His rights were later traded to the Golden State Warriors for cash considerations on draft night. On December 13, 2011, he signed with the Warriors. On February 27, 2012, he was assigned to the Dakota Wizards and recalled on March 6. For most of his rookie year he received minimal playing time, but on March 21, in a game against the New Orleans Hornets, he was named the Warriors' starting center. He subsequently remained in the team's starting line-up for the rest of the season. In July 2012, Tyler joined the Warriors for the 2012 NBA Summer League. During his second season, he had multiple assignments with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA Development League. On February 21, 2013, Tyler was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for a future second-round pick and waived on March 6 by the Hawks after appearing in just one game.
On March 18, 2013, Tyler was acquired by the Santa Cruz Warriors as he played out the rest of the 2012–13 season in the D-League. In July 2013, Tyler joined the New York Knicks for the 2013 NBA Summer League. On August 6, 2013, he signed with the Knicks. However, he was later waived by the Knicks on October 25, 2013. After being reacquired by the Santa Cruz Warriors on November 1, 2013, three days later, Tyler was traded to the Erie BayHawks. On December 31, 2013, he re-signed with the Knicks. On January 28, 2014, he recorded a career-high 17 points, along with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks, in a 114–88 victory over the Boston Celtics. On January 29, he was assigned to the Erie BayHawks, only to be recalled the next day. In July 2014, Tyler re-joined the Knicks for the 2014 NBA Summer League. On August 6, 2014, he was traded, along with Wayne Ellington and a 2016 second-round pick, to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Quincy Acy and Travis Outlaw. On September 6, 2014, he was waived by the Kings. On September 23, 2014, he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers but was waived on October 20.
China
On October 25, 2014, Tyler signed with Shanxi Zhongyu for the 2014–15 CBA season. In 41 games for Shanxi, he averaged 22.1 points, 11.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. In July 2015, Tyler joined the Dallas Mavericks for the 2015 NBA Summer League where he averaged 11.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals in six games. On September 28, 2015, he signed with the Houston Rockets. However, he was later waived by the Rockets on October 23 after appearing in two preseason games. On November 25, he returned to China, this time signing with the Fujian Sturgeons. He made his debut for the team later that day. On September 22, 2016, Tyler signed with Tianjin Ronggang of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Australia
On November 9, 2017, Tyler signed with the Sydney Kings for the rest of the 2017–18 NBL season. On January 9, 2018, he was released by the Kings. In 11 games, he averaged 13.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 blocks per game.
