The Toronto Raptors are rebuilding, and in their first summer since dealing Pascal Siakam, the team has signed young cornerstone Scottie Barnes to a premium contract and re-signed Immanuel Quickley. However, the Raptors are allegedly unwilling to re-sign Gary Trent Jr., one of their important rotation players in recent years, at the same price, which may be the best possible conclusion for the Los Angeles Lakers.
While the Raptors have spent nearly $400 million on Barnes and Quickley’s contracts, TSN’s Josh Lewenberg reports that Toronto has been hesitant to re-sign Trent, who will be an unrestricted free agent after his three-year, $51.8 million contract expires in 2021.
“Per a source, the Raptors were willing to bring the sharpshooter back at an annual salary of around $15 million when the negotiation window opened last month, but Trent’s camp was looking for a raise on the $18.5 million he made last season,” Lewenberg said. “Something in the $25 million range was thought to be the asking price, a misreading of a market that hasn’t been kind to guys like Trent, a very excellent three-point shooter (38% as a Raptor) who has shown flashes in other areas but hasn’t been able to sustain them, particularly on defense.
“Now, with the market drying up, one league insider said Trent would be ‘fortunate’ to get the mid-level exception, worth $12.5 million. According to a few sources, he may only earn half of that with the Lakers.
Lewenberg stated that, while the door is not totally closed yet — the Raptors and Trent’s agents are scheduled to meet again this week – the organization is “prepared to move on” from Trent.
Is Gary Trent Jr. joining the Lakers?
Gary Trent Jr. from the Toronto Raptors and Austin Reaves of the Los Angeles Lakers
For a player like Gary Trent Jr., a valuable but sometimes replaceable rotation piece, free agency may feel like gambling. Some players test the market and strike gold, as shown with Paul George, who inked a four-year, $211.6 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers following months of extension talks with the Los Angeles Clippers. However, as seen with Caleb Martin, who reportedly denied the Miami Heat’s four-year, $58 million extension and ended up signing a deal valued between $32 million and $40 million.
Trent may soon, unhappily for him, become an official member of that second group, joining Martin. Any $25 million-per-year contract is practically unattainable now, and with teams clearly being more picky with their mid-level exceptions, Trent appears to be taking a significant pay cut wherever he ends up this year. Several clubs could sign Trent to the nontaxpayer mid-level exception, which is worth around $12.8 million in Year 1, but if they don’t, the Lakers might benefit greatly.
Because the Lakers are well into the tax and are exactly below the second apron, the mid-level exception they can use is significantly smaller than that of the Raptors. If the Lakers gave Trent their entire taxpayer MLE, he would earn $5.2 million this season and could only sign for two years at most (nontaxpayer MLE deals can be up to four years), though a shorter deal would be preferable for Trent anyway if he is looking to increase his value for next offseason.
Trent, who began his career with the Portland Trail Blazers before being dealt to Toronto for the 2020-21 season, averaged 13.7 points in 28.1 minutes per game and shot 39.3% from three last season. Trent has played a total of 58 games since his rookie season.
New Lakers coach JJ Redick would love to have a career 38.6% three-point shooter to complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis, especially with the departure of Tauren Prince, who shot 39.6% from three last season in Los Angeles, and the possible departure of D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers’ best three-point shooter last season (41.5% on a team-high 7.2 attempts per game).
It’s unclear what kind of pitch the Lakers could make to Trent to entice him away from potentially more lucrative offers. If Trent agrees to the $5.2 million MLE, the Lakers should expect plenty of competition from teams straddling the second apron, which would function as a hard cap if the taxpayer exception is applied.
