Gary Trent Jr. is arguably the best free agent still on the market, but he may have already missed his best contract offer. According to TSN’s Josh Lewenberg, the Toronto Raptors initially planned to re-sign him with a deal worth around $15 million annually. However, after making other transactions, that offer is no longer available.
Trent, who earned $18.6 million last season, reportedly declined the Raptors’ offer as he sought about $25 million per year. Now, according to both TSN and Sportsnet’s Michael Grange, he may not even secure the $12.8 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception. So far, only De’Anthony Melton has signed a full MLE deal this offseason, accepting a one-year contract with the Golden State Warriors.
Last season, Trent averaged 13.7 points in 28.1 minutes per game for the Raptors, hitting 43.1% of his pull-up three-pointers. While it wasn’t his best season statistically, his performance didn’t deter potential suitors entirely. The current market, influenced by the new collective bargaining agreement, has led many teams to spend conservatively. Non-star free agents like Trent need to secure deals quickly or risk being squeezed out.
Toronto was willing to re-sign Trent on a team-friendly deal that could be traded later. “You want to be strategic about what’s tradable, what’s not tradable,” Raptors GM Bobby Webster said on June 27. However, after adding Davion Mitchell, Sasha Vezenkov, and picking up Bruce Brown’s $23 million player option, the Raptors are now less than $300,000 below the luxury-tax line, according to capsheets.com.
Although the Raptors weren’t offering as much as the Miami Heat offered Caleb Martin, Trent’s situation is similar to Martin’s before he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Heat had offered Martin an extension contingent on him picking up his $7.3 million player option, which would have paid him $65 million over five years. Instead, Martin signed a four-year deal with the Sixers worth $35 million plus $5 million in potential bonuses, with a fourth-year player option, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto.
The Raptors will meet with Trent’s representatives in Las Vegas this week, per TSN, but the team doesn’t seem inclined to bring him back. Trent may need to consider signing a one-year deal where he can get the best basketball opportunity and revisit free agency next summer.
