The upcoming season will be a test for the Milwaukee Bucks to see if their decision to acquire All-Star guard Damian Lillard over a year ago was right. The thing is, Gary Trent Jr., his former teammate with the Portland Trail Blazers might be the X factor the team needs to be more competitive.
Trent was drafted by the Sacramento Kings in the 2018 NBA draft and subsequently traded to the Portland Trail Blazers. He signed a three-year deal with the Trail Blazers and spent his rookie season splitting time between the NBA and the G League’s Texas Legends.
In his second and third seasons with the Trail Blazers, Trent’s playing time and production increased significantly. He became a valuable rotation player, averaging nearly nine points per game while providing perimeter defense and three-point shooting off the bench. Trent’s strong play caught the attention of the Toronto Raptors, who acquired him in a midseason trade in 2021.
With the Raptors, Trent continued to thrive, increasing his scoring average to over 15 points per game. He emerged as one of the Raptors’ top offensive threats and helped the team return to the playoffs. After three seasons in Toronto, Trent signed with the Bucks as a free agent in 2024, joining a contending team and further cementing his status as a versatile two-way player in the NBA.
Milwaukee Bucks’ X-Factor Revealed To Be Gary Trent. Jr for the 2024-25 NBA Season
The upcoming season will be a crucial one for the Bucks to prove their decision to acquire Lillard a year ago was right. In that regard, Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes identified Trent as the team’s X-factor and a catalyst to help them succeed.
An absolute heist of a free-agent signing, Gary Trent Jr. gives the Milwaukee Bucks a fifth starter at a 14th-man price. Wins in the financial ledger don’t count like the ones earned on the floor, though. If Trent doesn’t deliver for the contending Bucks in the highest-stakes scenario he’s ever seen as a pro, nobody will remember what a bargain he was.
That’ll start on defense, where Trent must prove he’s more than an opportunistic passing-lane jumper. Steals are valuable, and Trent has produced in that area by averaging at least 1.0 theft per game in each of the last four seasons, peaking at 1.7 in 2021-22 with the Toronto Raptors. Milwaukee will need him to bring more force than finesse, as Trent is in line to take on extremely difficult assignments every night.
Khris Middleton is the Bucks’ other starting wing, but he underwent dual ankle surgeries over the summer and has missed nearly half of his team’s games over the last two years. Damian Lillard has never been even an average defender.
Often, it’ll be Trent matched up against the opponent’s highest-scoring wing or guard threat. The Bucks are going to get elite shooting from their new starter, as Trent’s career long-range hit-rate of 38.6 percent could actually climb with so many other threats drawing attention away from him. We’ll see how things go on the other end.
The Bucks signed Trent, one of the best remaining free agents on the market, to a one-year contract during the offseason. He had reportedly turned down a multi-year deal from the Raptors worth around $15 million annually, seeking a raise on his $18.6 million salary for the 2023-24 season.
The Bucks’ signing of Trent is seen as a significant addition as they aim to challenge the defending champion Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference. If all goes well, the former Trail Blazers and Raptors star could very well be that missing piece for Lillard to get his first ring with the Bucks.
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