Source: Toronto Raptors Receiving Trade Interest For Gary Trent Jr.
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In less than five weeks, the NBA trade deadline will be here and with it comes plenty of movement across the league.
The Eastern Conference has become increasingly competitive this season and as a result, teams around the NBA are beginning to monitor which organizations in the East could be looking to reconstruct their rosters and one of those teams that is constantly being brought up in conversations is the Toronto Raptors.
Since winning their only title in 2019, the Raptors have made the playoffs two of the last three seasons, but they have struggled to remain a top-tier force in the Eastern Conference.
Decisions about the futures of All-Stars Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet will both be mulled over by the organization trending towards the offseason, yet this roster could look very different by the end of the 2022-23 season.
Both O.G. Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr. are players that rival teams around the league have been keeping an eye on and it does appear that one of these current players for the Raptors could be dealt in the coming weeks.
Recently, NBA insider Marc Stein reported the Raptors’ guard Gary Trent Jr. is “undeniably” available ahead of this season’s trade deadline and there are already a handful of teams showing trade interest in the sharpshooter.
Both the New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns are two teams that have a level of internal interest in Trent ahead of the deadline, sources close to both organizations tell Fastbreak on FanNation. However, the asking price Toronto for Trent has not been revealed and rival executives believe that the Raptors will be aiming to add immediate draft capital given their recent struggles this season.
New York is a team that is very much looking to upgrade their roster ahead of the deadline and any combination of Evan Fournier, Derrick Rose, Cam Reddish and Immanuel Quickley could be included in a potential deal for the Knicks to add a player of Gary Trent’s caliber. There is a push within the Knicks’ front-office though to keep both Rose and Quickley if possible, sources said.
Should the Knicks aggressively pursue Trent, it would not be a surprise to see the Raptors show interest in a young talent like Immanuel Quickley. New York also has a handful of first-round draft assets over the next couple of years that they can leverage to upgrade their roster ahead of this season’s trade deadline.
Losing nine of their last ten games, including six straight, Phoenix has been struggling without All-Star guard Devin Booker. With Cameron Johnson, Chris Paul and Cameron Payne also missing time lately due to injuries, as well as the fact that veteran forward Jae Crowder remains away from the team amidst his trade request, pressure on James Jones and the Suns’ front-office is growing.
The Suns have been said to have interest in adding another scoring weapon out on the perimeter ahead of the trade deadline and with the ability to move Crowder’s remaining $10.1 million this season, Phoenix could create a path for themselves to acquire a player like Trent in a multi-team deal.
The Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards are other teams who could potentially get in the mix as well to add a key shooter like Gary Trent Jr. out on the perimeter given that all three franchises are looking to make a real playoff push this season. At this time, it is unknown if any of these three teams have immediate interest in trading for the Raptors’ guard.
The Golden State Warriors could also get involved in trade talks for Trent if they wanted to given the possibility of them trading away James Wiseman and another young asset like Moses Moody. The Warriors however have not shown an eagerness to move on from Wiseman just yet and sources have told Fastbreak that they expect the Warriors to hang back from the initial action ahead of the trade deadline and watch what other teams do.
Other players such as Kyle Kuzma (Washington Wizards), Myles Turner (Indiana Pacers) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (Dallas Mavericks) continue to be key names discussed in recent discussions around the NBA, but in reference to the Toronto Raptors, Gary Trent Jr. is the player who’s market could heat up very quickly.
Having an $18.6 million player option for the 2023-24 season, Trent Jr. could make an immediate impact on a team contending for a title this season before weighing his options pertaining to free agency in the summer.
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