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2025 Free Agents - Gary Trent Jr.

Trent really broke out in his second season during '19-'20, establishing himself as a legitimate NBA wing. Trent's eFG% was a great 58.5% that season, led mostly by his 43% shooting from 3, but he was also above average from every other part of the court as well, according to Cleaning the Glass. Trent's outside shooting has dipped a bit since joining Toronto, as he has hit just under 38% of his threes. Some of that is due to Trent taking more difficult, unassisted shots after being traded to the Raptors, and them not having the same level of spacing, but it's also likely that he was unusually hot in his early seasons, and it's unlikely for anyone to continue that level of shooting as their usage increases. After generally continuing to increase his scoring each season, Trent is averaged under 14 points per game in '23-'24 after topping out at over 18 in '21-'22. Trent is a little more than just a "3-and-D" wing, as he has some off-the-dribble ability, and he has fared decently as a pick-and-roll ball-handler at times. He has the ability to hit shots off-the-dribble, but his 46% 2-point percentage is below average. Trent takes some difficult shots, and while some of that is bad shot selection, some of it is just due to his role and the lack of off-the-dribble creation for the Raptors. He probably plays more of an on-ball role with the Raptors than he should. Trent isn't really a creator for others, as he has never averaged more than two assists per game, and has consistently put up extremely low assist to usage ratios, which shows how often a player got an assist given how much he had the ball. He at least doesn't turn the ball over.  If Trent were a little bit bigger you'd feel better about him defensively, but he still has the size and quickness to defend multiple positions. He's a little small to defend the bigger, stronger, elite NBA wings, but the Raptors have generally had plenty of better options to do that and even in another situation I would not expect Trent to be tasked with that role. He gets a good amount of steals, and his 2.2% steal rate in '21-'22 was in the 91st percentile for his position, according to Cleaning the Glass. That rate continued in '22-'23 but dipped a little bit to only slightly above average in '23-'24. I was very surprised that Trent ended up settling for a minimum contract in 2024. It's possible he turned down slightly bigger offers in order to potentially start for a contender in Milwaukee, but it's unlikely he had any real big offers. If he has a big year for the Bucks, it could increase his interest league-wide heading into free agency in 2025, especially since the Bucks will have limited ability to retain him.

Summary

Trent will be an unrestricted free agent with a $2.3 million cap hold and Non-Bird Rights. This means that the highest starting salary the Bucks could offer him using the Non-Bird Exception is $3.7 million. This may be enough to retain Trent, since he settled for the minimum to come to Milwaukee. Alternatively, the Bucks could use their Mid-Level Exception or Bi-Annual Exception (if available) to re-sign Trent if he demands more than $3.7 million.  Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Trent as even teams without cap space could possibly use the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, or possibly even the Taxpayer MLE or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. It's also possible that Trent only gets minimum offers again.

Cap Considerations

Kelly Oubre (1+1 years, $16 million, 2024) Malik Beasley (1 year, $6 million, 2024) Bogdan Bogdanovic (4-1 years, $68 million, 2022)

Player/Contract Comparison

Potential Teams: Magic, Bucks, Clippers, Wizards, Heat

Predicted Contract: 3-year, $30 million with the Magic

Last updated: 10/1/2024

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