5 recently traded players that are exceeding expectations

Pleasant surprise No. 1: Gary Trent Jr.

If a post-trade deadline Most Improved Player award existed, putting your money anywhere else than on Gary Trent Jr. would be a complete waste of your resources.

On deadline day, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Toronto Raptors agreed on a guard-swap, with Normal Powell joining Damian Lillard and co. and Trent moving to Canada, just like his father did in 1998.

Powell is getting used to his new teammates that are collectively looking to make a playoff push and has proved to be a fine addition so far. Meanwhile, Trent just dropped a career-high 44 points on 89.5 percent–yes you read that right–shooting from the field.

During his introductory seasons in the league as a Blazer, Trent was mostly used as a sixth man, occasionally jumping into the starting lineup in the event of an injury. During his last seven games as a Raptor, he’s been averaging 22.1 points per game on 51-46-92 shooting splits.

Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t a clear winner in this trade, as of today. The rebuilding Toronto Raptors wanted to go with a more youthful route and the Portland Trail Blazers wanted to add that championship experience to hopefully get them over the edge.

The final verdict will be based upon Portland’s playoff run and Trent’s progression as a young star. However, as things currently stand, Gary Trent Jr. is the guy to watch in this final month of regular season basketball.