Sometimes, it takes years to judge a trade winner. The swap between the Blazers and Raptors involving Norman Powell and Gary Trent Jr. is not one of those trades. Apologies to the Blazers, but this one was a blowout. Powell is a nice player, but the Blazers already flipped him for pennies on the loonie in order to better manage their salary cap. Meanwhile, Trent has developed into one of the better young two-way players in the league. At 23 years old, he’s averaged 17.9 points per game, canned 38 percent of his 3s, and is right there at the top of the leaderboards with 1.9 steals per game.
The change of scenery did Trent good. His father, former NBA player Gary Trent Sr., told “The Raptors Show with Will Lou” that Trent Jr. was battling depression on the Blazers. “Getting traded was the best thing for his spirit and for his career and just for his emotional mental balance.”
That confidence is a key aspect of Trent’s game. If points were awarded based on degree of difficulty, Trent would be a perennial All-Star. That can work for him, like when he had a five-game streak of 30 or more points earlier this season. It can also work against him, as it has during his recent ugly shooting slump.
Trent is a gunner, pure and simple. He loves mid-rangers and 3s, and he’s pretty good at both. He doesn’t put much pressure on the rim, and he isn’t a particularly good finisher either. But he’s giving himself the green light every time from outside, and he is pretty good at hitting those tough shots.
Trent has a little bit of trick-or-treat to his game. Nick Nurse has done a very good job of getting more treats out of him this season by running specific actions with him to generate space.
One of those sets is a Chin pick-and-roll. The signal to watch for is Nurse tapping his chin. This action, which is common across all levels of basketball, lets Trent get some space between himself and the big-man defender to create a shot.
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Trent is a pretty straightforward offensive player. His defense is a little trickier to evaluate.
Trent was considered as more of an up-and-down defender coming out of Portland. Rather than staying solid, he was prone to taking bad gambles and had trouble with his technique. Those mistakes are typical of young players. He looks like he might be turning the corner in his fourth season with more reps under his belt.
Trent has developed into a solid help defender. He’s constantly communicating on the floor, pointing out assignments early for teammates. He’s a pest, and he fights hard to stay involved in plays. He’s become a good help-side defender who has a strong understanding of where and how to rotate. He still has that gambling nature, but he’s become a bit more judicious about when to use it.
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Trent’s steal numbers have been outstanding this season. He has a good chance to lead the league by the end of the year. One of his trademarks this year has been ripping the ball out of players’ hands, like taking candy from a baby.
That flashy offense and defense stands in stark contrast to Trent off the court. He is subdued with media, to put it lightly.
"I think you're frozen there Jen"
— Brooks Otterlake (@i_zzzzzz) February 1, 2022
"No, Gary's just not moving" pic.twitter.com/US6QqLTCyY
Get him on the court, though, and something happens to him. He has a fire to him that comes out at surprising times. He and Patrick Beverley started out a game drawing double technical fouls before tipoff earlier this year.
He’s also come up in the clutch a number of times. He hit a game-clinching 3-pointer against the Bulls earlier this year, and he’s had a few game-saving defensive plays where he has stepped it up as a one-on-one defender. He seems to save his best defensive efforts for the most high-leverage situations.
SCARY GARY TIME pic.twitter.com/nweqyVnw0I
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) October 30, 2021
Trent has an $18.5 million player option in the 2023-24 season that he will probably decline if he continues on this path. He’s been a terrific add for the Raptors, and his services will be in high demand again when he hits unrestricted free agency in his Age 25 season. His greatly improved defense and quality shooting on offense has him in the top 100 range in most advanced metrics. If he can continue to weed out some of those bad tendencies, then Trent still has room to grow. That will make him an even more scary Gary for the rest of the league.
