Raptors' Gary Trent Jr. facing biggest year of his career
In many ways, Toronto Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr. took a huge leap forward in the 2021-22 campaign.
In his first full season in Toronto, Trent set career highs with 18.3 points, 1.7 steals, and 2.0 assists in 70 games in 2021-22.
On ten separate occasions, Trent put up 30 or more points for the Raptors, including a pair of 42-point performances this past season.
While he’s not quite an all-star or a first option offensively, he’s shown he can be “the guy” on any given night should his shooting stroke get hot.
But the NBA is very much a “what-have-you-done-for-me-lately” type league, and next year is shaping up to be a very pivotal one for Trent and his future with the Raptors.
Starting off with next month’s training camp battles simply to secure a starting roster spot, the 2022-23 campaign is set to be the most important of Trent’s career to date.
Contract considerations
More than anything, Trent’s future in Toronto could be dictated by how the team’s pocketbooks look moving forward.
He’s got two years left on his current contract, but has a player option after this season. As it typically goes in the NBA, most players will opt out of their contract and re-negotiate a new deal if they’ve had a strong year, which is to be expected once again from Trent.
HoopsHype.com has Trent at a “real value” of $24,797,081, compared to an actual salary of $17.5 million for next year. In other news, he’s likely underpaid to market value and would be wise to cash in after another strong campaign.
Whether that’s in Toronto with another multi-year contract extension or on the open market is anyone’s best guess.
Toronto will also be dealing with a potential player option next year for Fred VanVleet, while also having long-term thoughts about the next deals for Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam (both expiring in 2024) as well as OG Anunoby (expiring in 2025, with a player option in 2024).
Trent’s also an easy add-on to trade rumours due to a very team-friendly contract, and at just age 23, still has plenty of room to expand his expertise as an NBA player.
Consciously or not, Trent will be having a mini-audition every single game as to whether he’ll be sticking around in Toronto or accepting a large cheque elsewhere.
A role decrease?
Trent was in the Raptors’ starting lineup for 69 games this past year, a career-high in his four NBA seasons.
“All I’ve ever asked for was opportunity,” Trent said at his end-of-season press conference about playing in the starting lineup. “It was great for [Raptors coach Nick Nurse] to give me the opportunity to showcase my work and showcase what I could do.”
As for what Trent does on the offensive side of the floor?
Mostly, he gets the ball, and he shoots.
His 0.43 points per touch of the ball this season were the highest among any Raptors player this season, and eighth league-wide. As touched on by Louis Zatzman of Raptors Republic, he’s a fairly unique playstyle amongst his teammates.
But what if the Raptors are looking for an increased role from Precious Achiuwa? What if newcomer Otto Porter Jr. is able to add the shooting stroke while being able to play the forward positions?
It’s not hard to imagine Trent being the odd-man-out of the Raptors’ starting rotation every once in a while. If that’s the case, it adds further to the intrigue of what his NBA future will look like.
New blood fighting for spots
Last year, the Raptors relied on their starters more than any other NBA team, playing them a league-high 34.1 minutes per game. That isn’t likely to be as extreme this upcoming year, with added rotation depth filling out the roster.
As previously mentioned, they’ve brought in Porter, while rookie Christian Koloko should also get considerable looks to crack the rotation.
There are also two-way additions, Ron Harper Jr. and Jeff Dowtin, as well as possible expanded roles for young guards Malachi Flynn and Dalano Banton.
“There’s a group of guys that we all know can hit the floor and play for us,” Nurse said to reporters at his charity golf tournament earlier this summer. “I think I see some depth there, much more than a year ago, which I think we desperately needed.”
Outside of arguably Porter, Trent has a better NBA resume than anyone else he’d be fighting for playing time. But it’s still not hard to envision a world where his role gets cut back a little bit to fit everyone else in.
One way or another, we should have a much clearer picture by season’s end of how Gary Trent Jr. fits into the Raptors’ long-term plans.
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