John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Raptors Working Toward Contract Extension With Gary Trent Jr., per Report
The Toronto Raptors are planning to keep Gary Trent Jr. around for the next little while.
Trent, who opted-in to his player option for next season, is reportedly nearing a contract multi-year extension to stay with the Raptors, per Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes. Toronto and Trent reportedly began discussions on an extension earlier in the month when Trent decided to remain with the organization on his $18.6 million option.
The 24-year-old had an up-and-down season for the Raptors this past year, bouncing between the starting lineup and the bench for Toronto. He started in 44 of the team’s 66 games, primarily in the first half of the season before the Raptors acquired Jakob Poeltl at the trade deadline.
He averaged 17.4 points on 43.3% shooting with a 36.9% three-point stroke but his defense never progressed much, save for his 1.6 steals per game.
Trent will likely see a bigger role for Toronto with the departure of VanVleet this summer. He’ll be asked to take on more of the catch-and-shoot responsibilities VanVleet had, working off-the-ball in Toronto’s offense.
It’s unclear what Trent’s extension will look like but the expectation heading into the summer was he’d be looking for a contract nearing $20 million per season. His decision to opt-in to his option, however, seems to suggest that projection was off the mark.
Further Reading
Fred VanVleet Signs With Houston Rockets, per Report
