Portland Trail Blazers: 3 goals for Gary Trent Jr. in 2020-21

3. Consolidate the gains.

It is one thing to make gains in the league when players are out injured. What Trent has to do now is consolidate his place in the rotation by continuing to produce every time that he gets onto the court.

He will have no problems on the defensive end. His effort and intensity are amongst the highest on the team. His ability to pressure the ball against tired first units or second units should help the Blazers win more games.

It is on the offensive end that he will need to continue to show that he can produce at the same shooting efficiency as this season. The reason for this is he will face greater competition for minutes next year.

Rodney Hood will come back from his Achilles injury to resume a role on the team. His 21 games last year were the model of efficiency offensively, averaging 11.0 points per game with a slash line of 50.6/49.3/77.8.

If the Trail Blazers guarantee Trevor Ariza’s contract, they will want to play the veteran as well. He also averaged 11.0 points a night in his time in Portland with an efficient slash line of 49.1/40.0/87.2. He is also an excellent defender.

Both of these players can play both wing positions while Trent is listed as only a shooting guard. This means that if the Trail Blazers sign Carmelo Anthony for another season, Trent will be fighting to get on the court. If he can keep his shooting percentages high, he will give Portland options.