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He was the youngest player on the team when the Raptors acquired him for Norman Powell just shy of three years ago. Now he’s helping out the likes of Gradey Dick.
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At barely 25 years old, Gary Trent Jr. has suddenly found himself thrust into the role of veteran mentor on a Raptors team filled with prospects. It’s quite a turn of events for a player who was still a teenager when drafted into the NBA and was the youngest player on the team when the Raptors acquired him for Norman Powell just shy of three years ago.
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Now, Trent never really fit into the role of babyface — his father was an NBA veteran who taught him about being a professional long before Trent followed in his footsteps in playing for both the Blazers and the Raptors — and he’s always seemed like a bit of an old soul. But Toronto did trade for him back in the day in part because of the age difference between him and Powell.
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Trent’s no greybeard, but five of the nine players born before him who started the season with the team have been dealt away, two more (Chris Boucher and Jakob Poeltl) might not play again this season and the oldest Raptor, Garrett Temple, can only help so much seeing as he’s as much of a coach than a player at this point.
Trent is still producing, as his game-high 31 points — his most this season — in Friday’s 113-103 loss to the Orlando Magic indicate, and he’s trying to provide as much assistance off the court as he is on.
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It appears that Gradey Dick, Toronto’s prized rookie, has particularly benefitted from Trent’s tutelage. Though Dick had one of his worst games of the year against the Magic, he’s been making considerable progress over the last two months.
“Even just before the season started, me and coach Ivo (Simovic, a Raptors assistant coach) were working with Gradey, worked together basically since the summer,” Trent explained following Friday’s game. “I just came here and was really trying to show him a certain mindset, a certain approach, a certain focus you should have, whether it’s in drills, paying attention to how his footing is on jumpers, all types of things. He’s been super receptive, asking a lot of questions too on the court,” Trent said.
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Trent said Dick is asking about how to get more comfortable playing extended minutes, even as a starter. “Obviously, he’s thrown into a situation that’s not relatively easy. New coach trying to figure everything out and had a lot of changes as a rookie so that could be a lot for you. But again, he’s handled it well. He’s handled his G League stint when we sent him down. He’s been super receptive, he’s been like a sponge, he’s ready to learn to keep going and take the next step and you know, he has so much more improvement to do and so much more to add to his game … I’ll continue to help him as much as I can.”
Trent believes he’s been in so many different scenarios so far in his career that he can pass on some words of wisdom for anybody on the roster, if needed.
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“My first time in the league it was kind of different. You got to think I was a second round pick onto an established team. Eight years that was already together. So there was no plan,” Trent said when asked why he can relate. “My first year, I was like I was training for the Olympics. I was running, lifting every single day. That’s all I was doing basically a year straight (Trent only got into 15 games that season) … “Playing, not playing, benched, not benched, opportunity could be gone, opportunity could be here again. I just continue to work, control what I can control, try to be a good teammate, try to be a good person, player, go out there and try to help contribute towards winning however I can. It’s really the only focus I have,” Trent said.
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“There’s not one part of the NBA that I have not seen. like for example Scottie Barnes. He came into the league who he is, what he’s going to be, with everything given to him, lights, glitz, glamour. I did went from bench, behind the bench, I’d been in a suit, I’ve been on the court, I’ve been a starter, I’ve been back (to the) bench. So there’s no part of the game I haven’t touched, that I haven’t been a part of. So I feel like that just helps me how to handle things and how to go about business, all those different situations that I’ve been in my career.”
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