Other teams expect Gary Trent Jr. to leave Raptors this summer: report

May 6 2023, 3:53 pm

Ahead of a pivotal summer for the Toronto Raptors, it seems inevitable roster change is coming for the franchise.

With the team finishing the 2022-23 season 41-41 before crashing out of the play-in game and subsequently firing head coach Nick Nurse, the team is in the midst of a cultural reset following three seasons of failing to win a round in the playoffs.

According to Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus, teams around the league are expecting Toronto to part ways with Gary Trent Jr. — either by way of a trade or the veteran guard opting out of the final year of his contract to hit free agency.

“Competing executives around the league don’t expect the Raptors to retain Gary Trent Jr., who may opt out of his $18.8 million contract,” Pincus wrote this week. “But he’ll need to do his homework to ensure that money is available in free agency (which may not be a lock in this market). Instead, he may opt in and eventually be traded by the Raptors.”

He averaged 17.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 66 games for the Raptors this season.

“I’ll sit down and talk to my team and we’ll go in and see how everything plays out,” Trent Jr. said at his end-of-season media availability. “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. 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’ acquisition of Jakob Poeltl.

In total, he came off the bench in 23 of 67 games he appeared in, including the play-in finale.

“[My role] changed a little bit. I’m going from starting, playing 35 minutes, then not starting, playing about 20 minutes. [Poeltl comes] in a trade, my minutes go down. We’re just balancing, trying to play. It’s everybody, not just me, trying to go out there and roll with the punches as we could,” Trent Jr. added.

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