The Toronto Raptors brain trust put its faith in the current core, adding instead of subtracting players at the NBA trade deadline.
President Masai Ujiri and GM Bobby Webster boast a strong track record, and the early returns on the Jakob Poeltl trade have been positive, but management and the coaching staff are banking on improvements from within. An up-and-down first half of the season finds the Raptors in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, and most likely destined for a play-in game.
Improving their spot in the standings will come down to the effectiveness of Pascal Siakam’s co-stars, Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes.
One name to consider adding to that group, however, is Gary Trent Jr. The sharpshooter was all over the rumour mill leading up to the deadline. Now, as he prepares for free agency in the summer, Trent is a key member of coach Nick Nurse’s rotation, whether that’s off the bench or in a starting role.
“You know, as a kid your dream is to start in the NBA,” Trent said in an interview with Will Lou of The Raptors Show.
“Obviously, that's not everybody's fortune, that's not everybody's role. You got to learn, you got to adapt (if you) want to survive in this league. You got to be able to play any way, anywhere, one minute, 100 minutes for you to be the first guy, you got to know how to be the last guy.”
Adapting has been the key this season for Trent. His role has changed as the season progressed, and the Duke product has responded with big moments, including dropping 35 points on the Phoenix Suns after returning to the starting lineup in late December.
Amid the changes, Trent’s mindset has remained consistent.
“Anybody that comes off the bench, everybody is going be ready, right?” he said. “Everybody is going to be locked in, looking at the bigger picture and a bigger goal of what we're trying to accomplish here. Obviously, somebody's going to have to go to the bench, and somebody's minutes (are) obviously going to go down as well to go along with that. So, again, just go out there and roll with the punches, play hard, you know, be a difference maker by going out there, and we'd be good.”
That maturity for a 24-year-old is quite rare, but it makes sense when considering the role Gary Trent Sr. has played in his son’s career. The younger Trent got crash course in NBA life by observing his dad traverse the grind that is pro basketball.
“Everything I was doing was preparing for those moments, whether it was going to see locker rooms, meeting coaches seeing how they talk after the game,” said Trent.
“Numerous teams, numerous players down to Yao Ming, being scared meeting Kobe, having a chance to see LeBron and meet different players before actually getting to the league. When I went to the locker room, I was just like a fly on the wall, I was listening to every single thing they were doing, what they were talking about, how they were getting treatment. We would literally go from watching them at the Target Center and then go straight to the court. It can't be no more motivating than going out there seeing those guys do this and that you're in the same building you have a realistic chance of doing that.”
Catch the full interview on The Raptors Show with Will Lou, and tune in every day from 2-3 p.m. ET / 11-noon PT on SN NOW, SN 360 and YouTube.
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