Portland Trail Blazers: 3 goals for Gary Trent Jr’s. rookie season
By Ty Delbridge
The Portland Trail Blazers traded back into the 2018 NBA Draft to acquire Gary Trent Jr. in the second round. Here are three goals for Trent heading into his rookie season.
After drafting one of the youngest and least experienced players in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft in Anfernee Simons, the Portland Trail Blazers made a trade with the Sacramento Kings to get back into the draft in the second round. At pick No. 37, Portland grabbed one of the more NBA-ready players in Gary Trent Jr.
Trent is 6’6”, 204 pounds and was a five-star recruit coming out of high school. He played at Duke for one season and was one of the best 3-point shooters in college and his draft class. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski called him “the best 3-point shooter in the ACC” in an interview with GoDuke.com.
Last season, Trent averaged 14.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals in 33.8 minutes per game while shooting 41.5 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from the 3-point line. He also set a Duke freshman record for 3-point attempts with 97.
The Blazers were very high on Trent throughout the draft process, and he showed why in NBA Summer League. He looked comfortable with the ball in his hands and creating offense. He is very smart off the ball and had no fear when shooting. He was often the first or second guy off the bench and was one of the only five Blazers to play in all seven Summer League games.
He averaged 11.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.3 steals in 23.1 minutes per game while shooting 35.4 percent from the field and 30 percent from the 3-point line (4.3 attempts per game). He was second on the team in field goal attempts, tied for first in 3-point attempts, fourth in scoring and he did not miss a free throw in 15 attempts.
The Blazers played Trent quite a bit, and he seemed up to the challenge. Portland needs 3-point shooters and guys who can handle the ball on the wing. Trent showed he can do both those things and looks like he could be a meaningful player this season. With that being said, here are three goals for Trent this year.