Decision time: Clock ticking for Gary Trent Jr. to decide his Raptors future
The Toronto Raptors are sitting around waiting on the whims of one Gary Trent Jr. to help guide the future of the franchise’s direction.
Trent, with a widely reported Tuesday, June 20 deadline to either accept an $18.5 million player option for 2023-24 or head to unrestricted free agency this summer, has approximately 24 hours to let Toronto know if he’s interested in sticking around.
The 24-year-old guard has been a regular in the Raptors’ rotation since coming over in a 2021 trade from the Portland Trail Blazers but had a disappointing end to the 2022-23 campaign after missing a seven-game stretch in mid-March, playing just 17 minutes and putting up only two points in the Raptors’ play-in loss to the Chicago Bulls this past spring.
“We know it’s a business. I love Toronto. Spent a great time here so far. It’s got good restaurants, [a] good city, a great place to be,” Trent Jr. said in April about possibly returning to the team for the 2023-24 season.
Unrestricted free agency officially opens on July 6, though teams can begin negotiating deals as of June 30 at 6 pm ET.
Trent Jr. was spotted working out in Toronto in May at the team’s OVO Athletic Centre practice facility.
Meanwhile, team general manager Bobby Webster confirmed last week in multiple media appearances that the team has been in contact with him and publicly stated their desire to retain Trent Jr. next season.
Trent Jr. averaged 17.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 66 games for the Raptors this season, his third with the team.
Trent Jr. played 69 of 70 games as a starter in the 2021-22 season but was delegated to the bench for long portions of the 2022-23 season, particularly after the Raptors acquired Jakob Poeltl.
In total, he came off the bench in 23 of 67 games he appeared in, including the play-in finale.
Toronto went 41-41 last season and missed the playoffs, leading to the firing of longtime head coach Nick Nurse and a host of rumours about nearly every single one of their core players.
Veteran point guard Fred VanVleet declined his $22.8 million player option for next season last week, with reports circulating that he’s looking for upwards of $30 million per season in free agency. While VanVleet — like Trent Jr. — could still return to Toronto regardless of their player options being exercised, if both players depart, it could start a domino effect among the team’s roster as they look to retool towards the future.
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