Raptors' future with Trent Jr. "TBD" after keeping him at trade deadline
Today, the Toronto Raptors made a series of moves at the NBA trade deadline.
The team made trades with both the Brooklyn Nets and Utah Jazz, sending out Dennis Schroder, Thaddeus Young, Kira Lewis, and Otto Porter while bringing back Kelly Olynyk, Ochai Agbaji and a since-waived Spencer Dinwiddie.
And while there were plenty of moves on the day, there were a few players that didn’t go out that also seemed to generate some buzz.
The Raptors kept all of Bruce Brown Jr, Gary Trent Jr., and Chris Boucher past the deadline, three players that had all generated some level of interest league-wide in the past.
Toronto general manager Bobby Webster met with the media today and spoke about his thoughts on the trio of players sticking around with Toronto.
Trent Jr. has averaged 11.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 46 games this season, with his contract set to expire after this season. Now in his fourth year with Toronto, Trent has played 199 career games with the franchise after being acquired from Portland in 2021.
“On the surface, Gary’s 25 years old and a 40% three-point shooter, right? So you can start there,” Webster said today. “He didn’t get off to as good of a start here as he would have wanted to, but he’s kind of settled in now… so I think it’s a little TBD on Gary [on his future with Toronto].”
Webster added that Trent has had a “great stretch” of play of late, having hit 49% of his three-point shots since January 1.
“I think we’re watching him grow with this group. We’re watching him pick and choose his spots, offensively. I think you’re seeing him be a bit more aggressive defensively, what we’ve seen over the years. So I think it’s a great stretch for him, and it’s a great stretch for us to evaluate him.”
Meanwhile, the 27-year-old Brown has averaged 11.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 43 games this season. Acquired from Indiana as part of the trade for Pascal Siakam, Toronto has a club option for next year worth $23 million and the possibility to trade him either on draft night or in the summer.
“If you look around the league today, there weren’t a ton of major moves… we’re happy with Bruce, and we’re happy to continue on with him,” Webster added.
As for Boucher, the Raptors are looking for options on what to do with their longest tenured player, who has been with the franchise since 2018-19.
“We have a good relationship with him; he’s obviously going through a tough time,” Webster added.
Boucher has averaged 6.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.4 blocks in 45 games this season and has one year left on his deal worth $10.8 million next season.
The Raptors return to action on Friday night when they take on the Houston Rockets at 7 pm ET.
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