MILWAUKEE — At simply 25 years outdated, Gary Trent Jr. has established himself as a dependable double-digit scorer and one of many NBA’s finest outdoors shooters. The truth that the Milwaukee Bucks might signal him to a veteran minimal contract this summer season is among the greatest offers of free company.
At 6-foot-4, the previous Duke star can play guard and wing, giving Milwaukee choices on its first and second items. Trent Jr.’s 39 p.c three-point capturing proportion might add much more firepower to a Bucks staff that ranked fourth in discipline purpose proportion final season.
Listed here are three benchmarks for Trent Jr. in 2024-25 that may very well be indicators of success.
Trent Jr. has reached that mark twice in his six NBA seasons, and there is good cause to assume he can do it this 12 months:
An environment friendly three-point shot helps clear house and maintain defenses sincere. Trent Jr.’s success will make life simpler for the Bucks’ offense.
As a lot as Milwaukee might want to depend on their capturing from distance, they will want Trent Jr. to fill Lillard’s defensive gaps as they face the hardest guard matchups.
Having earned a fame as a defensive participant, Trent Jr. twice averaged over 1.5 interceptions in Toronto. six gamers He averaged 1.5 or extra interceptions per sport final season.
At 6’5″ with a 6’9″ Along with his wingspan, Trent Jr. has the size to disrupt passing lanes and rack up deflections. He averaged 1.2 steals per sport over his seven-year taking part in profession.
This reference will rely upon the taking part in time and the selection of photographs.
Trent Jr. shot greater than 200 free throws twice and made 83 p.c or higher, however he additionally averaged 4 to 6 minutes greater than his profession common. Final 12 months, whereas averaging 28 minutes an evening (his lowest quantity in 5 seasons), Trent Jr. shot extra three-pointers than two-pointers and, predictably, fewer than 100 free throws.
So essentially the most cheap purpose could be free throw accuracy, which is able to assist.
Since 2017-18, the Bucks have been within the backside half of the league in staff free throw proportion. A lot of that proportion has come from Giannis, who has averaged 70 p.c over his 11-year profession.
Making and lacking free throws usually makes the distinction in tight video games. With an 81.9% free throw capturing proportion, Trent Jr. joins Lillard (92% in 2023-24) and Middleton (83.3% in 2023-24) as trusted ball-handlers in essential moments.
In his six seasons, Trent Jr. has made 83 p.c of his free throws twice. It is doable, however on this offense, 200 makes an attempt is usually a dangerous wager.