Gary Trent Jr. had a breakout season for the Portland Trail Blazers in 2019-20. Here are three goals for the shooting guard in the 2020-21 season.
Fortunately for the Portland Trail Blazers, Gary Trent Jr. had a tremendous year in his second season. In an injured ravaged campaign, Trent showed the fight and spirit which the Blazers have displayed since Damian Lillard took over as a leader.
Trent averaged 2.7 points, 0.7 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in just 7.4 minutes per game in his first season. Due to a mixture of injury, coach’s decision’s and a G League assignment, Trent would only play 15 games in his rookie year.
In year two, Trent established himself in the rotation due to the unfortunate injury to Rodney Hood. His numbers jumped accordingly. In 61 games he averaged 8.9 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 0.8 steals in 21.4 minutes per game.
His efficiency also improved this season. In his rookie year, without regular playing time, his slash line was poor, shooting the ball at 32.0/23.8/42.9. This was not going to win him many minutes on a team playing at the level the Blazers were in 2018-19, where they made the Western Conference Finals.
This season the Blazers only just made the playoffs. Like the rest of his numbers, there was a significant jump with his shooting percentages. He went at 44.4/41.8/82.2, which is closer to the way he shot in both college and the G League.
However, it was his defensive intensity that impressed the most. He was the first to pressure the ball handler, close off passing lanes and make a general nuisance of himself on that end. He only averaged 0.8 steals a game but it was the unrelenting way he went about it which made a huge difference.
With all that in mind, here are three goals for Gary Trent Jr for the 2020-21 season.