TORONTO – You can say this about Gary Trent Jr., the young man and newest member of the Toronto Raptors knows how to make an entrance.
The third-year guard-forward was in his hotel room taking a pre-game nap when he got the call from his agent, Rich Paul, shortly before Thursday afternoon’s NBA trade deadline. He was on the move.
The Portland Trail Blazers, his now former team, were in Miami getting ready to take on the Heat. So, fortunately, Trent Jr. didn’t have to travel very far to join his new club.
He arrived in Tampa around 11:30 p.m. ET, went for a midnight workout and completed his physical Friday morning, clearing the way for him to make his Raptors debut later that evening.
Showing up to Amalie Arena ahead of Toronto’s game against the Phoenix Suns, Trent Jr. was decked out in OVO gear. The red camo outfit came from his personal collection, in case you were wondering – it wasn’t a welcome gift from the team or anything like that. Savvy wardrobe choice from the 22-year-old and a good lesson for anybody that’s starting a new job. Want to impress your employer on the first day? Repping the global ambassador’s brand certainly doesn’t hurt.
He didn’t need to wear Drake’s shirt to make a strong first impression, though. As Blazers fans know and Raptors fans will learn quickly, if they haven’t already, Trent Jr. is easy to root for.
“The sky is the limit,” he said, speaking on the fit with his new team. “I’m gonna come in everyday and work as hard as I can…. Just coming in, diving in head first, being a sponge, trying to learn as much as I can, gel with everybody, get to it, lock in, get some wins and play the game of basketball like we all know how to do.”
Like Norman Powell, who went to Portland in the deal that sent him and veteran wing Rodney Hood to the Raptors, Trent Jr. was a second-round pick. As a rookie in 2018-19, he mostly watched from the bench, also spending some time in the G League.
He really started to emerge towards the end of his sophomore campaign, helping the Blazers make a playoff push during last year’s restart in Orlando. He was one of the league’s standouts in the bubble, and it’s carried over into this season – averaging 15.0 points in 41 games with Portland. Now, he’s hoping to take the next step in Toronto’s well-regarded developmental system – one that has produced the likes of Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and, of course, Powell.
Even without the benefit of a practice session after just arriving and meeting his new teammates a few hours earlier, Trent Jr. showed what he could do in his Raptors debut – a 104-100 loss to the Suns.
He knocked down his first shot – a 19-foot jumper off a curl and assisted by Kyle Lowry. A few minutes later, he stripped the ball from all-star Devin Booker – a good way to make friends on a team that includes a couple handsy defenders in VanVleet and Anunoby. Later, Siakam found him on a back cut to the rim for a layup. The only thing he didn’t do, ironically, was hit a three, missing all five of his attempts – he’s shooting 41 per cent from long range over the past two years.
“I thought he was good,” Nick Nurse said of Trent Jr., who scored eight points on 4-of-11 shooting in his first game. “Obviously it’s difficult to come in, fly in at night and join a team and play, and play against one of the best teams in the league. I thought he was good, I liked his aggression on defence most of all. He’ll learn what we’re doing, but I thought he had some really good possessions defensively. He was aggressive and executed the stuff we asked him to execute at a super high level, so that’s a great thing to see. And we know he can shoot, we know he can score.”
Trent Jr. is nowhere near the offensive player that Powell is, at least not at this stage of his career, but that’s OK – Powell is almost six years his senior and, to his credit, has blossomed into one of the league’s most efficient scorers at his position. The Raptors know they were giving something up on that end of the floor – Powell was third on the team in points per contest. That’s not why they made the trade.
More than anything else, it was a business move. It was about asset management – swapping a player that was about to become really expensive and difficult to keep for one that’s younger and cheaper (Trent Jr. will be a restricted free agent this summer and should cost considerably less to retain than an unrestricted Powell would have), who they like and see fitting into their long-term plans. That he projects as a better defender than Powell, and may already be, has a lot to do with the fit.
“Gary’s a really tremendous young player,” said Lowry. “He can shoot the ball, he’s super tough, plays defence, defensive-minded, hard-nosed, his father played in the league. I think he’s got a really good upside.”
After a two and a half year apprenticeship under one of the best guards in the association, Damian Lillard, Trent Jr. gets to learn from another veteran at the position – one of the benefits of opting not to trade Lowry ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to continue helping him grow,” Lowry said. “He’s 22 years old, he’s still getting his feet wet in this league and he’s going to continue to get better. My job is to try to help him kind of blend in and mesh with the team really quick. You know we got great guys in this locker room, myself, Freddy, and we want to help speed him up and keep him going.”
He’s not lacking for mentors, either. His father, Gary Trent Sr. played in the league for nine seasons. Trent Jr. is literally walking in his footsteps.
Trent Sr. was acquired in the Raptors’ first-ever blockbuster trade – the deal that sent disgruntled star Damon Stoudamire to Portland and brought fan favourite Alvin Williams to Toronto in 1998. Less than a year later, Trent Jr. was born. Twenty-two years after that, he was traded to the Raptors – also from Portland, and also 41 games into his third NBA season. His dad was actually the one to point that out to him.
“It’s surreal,” said Trent Jr., who chose to wear 33 on his jersey, the same number his father wore with the Raptors more than two decades prior. “It’s wild, stuff you can’t put into words. It almost seems like it was written already in a sense, like it was destined to happen, it was supposed to happen. It’s crazy.”
Trent Sr. only played in 13 games with the Raptors before leaving for Dallas as a free agent following that 1998-99 campaign. The hope is that his son’s tenure will be longer and more memorable. If he’s going to carve out a legacy and endear himself to the fan base – not unlike Powell before him – well, he’s off to a pretty good start.
“[My father] gave me a lot of great stories just talking about the city [of Toronto] itself,” said Trent Jr. “He says it’s beautiful, it’s one of the most international cities in the world, the food is amazing, the vibe is amazing, the fans are amazing. So I’ve heard nothing but positive things about it. I’m so glad, so fortunate, so blessed to have the opportunity to play for this organization.”
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