Gary Trent Jr.: The Portland Trail Blazers’ Bubble Breakout Star
Gary Trent Jr. has exploded in the bubble, but it was a grind to playing time
Can there ever be a “good” time for an injury?
An injury that happens at an opportune time for a team?
Of course not.
No team wants to suffer through injuries, especially when you’re trying to build off a Western Conference Finals trip like the Portland Trail Blazers this season.
Portland had the fifth-most games missed by injured players this season and it forced them to get a bit creative. One such way was signing Carmelo Anthony to help fill a void on the wing.
Another was digging deep into their bench and pulling out second year wing Gary Trent Jr.
Trent Jr. played sparingly in his rookie year and even to begin this season. The 21-year-old played in only 11 of the Blazers first 24 games, seeing a little over eight minutes a night.
But as the injuries grew, so did the Blazers’ trust in Trent Jr. He gradually played more against lower-tier teams and began to slowly earn the coaching staffs trust against good teams.
Don’t take it from me though, take it from Blazers assistant coach Jim Moran who said Trent Jr. was the most improved player on the Blazers this season.
“He’s shown he can get into the game and make shots. His defense has been unbelievable. I don’t think we talk enough about how much of a buy in he gave for his defense… We really challenged him defensively and he bought in. He was guarding Derrick Rose, Bradley Beal, he’s guarding some high level guys and he’s not backing down.”
That has been the biggest factor in getting playing time: defense.
As Moran mentioned, eventually trusted Trent Jr. to guard more primary ball handlers and he more than held his own.
Trent Jr. stays with Devin Booker the whole time, doesn’t really let him get into any of his moves, does a great job sliding his feet and eventually leads to a blocked shot.
This isn’t going to wow anyone but with Portland down a man on defense, Trent Jr. keeps Harden in front of him, anticipates the shot, and his contest forces Harden to pass the ball.
One of the biggest things Trent Jr. said he’s learned is that defense takes effort.
“The biggest thing I really found out at the defensive end was just effort. Literally, effort. If you get hit by a screen, don’t give up, keep sprinting through.” (via Blazer’s Edge podcast)
That’s been one of the most impressive aspects of Trent Jr.’s defense has been his ability to get through screens or staying with his man through contact, and even blowing up a play entirely.
He harasses Eric Gordon around the screen, forcing him into the help from Hassan Whiteside, chases him back out to the three-point line and contests the three.
He pretty much stays in front of Victor Oladipo the entire time, even going around Myles Turner, and gets his hands on the ball and forces a jump.
They even had him defend 6'10" Michael Porter Jr.
He denies the dribble hand off, takes away the potential for a pass on the cut, and to top it all off he boxes Porter Jr. out for the rebound.
Granted neither pass is fantastic from Mason Plumlee but Porter Jr. has four inches on Trent Jr. and he denies the entry pass both times and forces the turnover with one of them leading to a pull up in transition three.
While defense has been the biggest improvement for Trent Jr., his shooting has always been his strength.
Through the Blazers six seeding games, Trent Jr. is averaging 18 PPG including 58% from three on eight and a half attempts per game, that’s a 77.7% effective field goal percentage.
Obviously those numbers aren’t sustainable but he’s done some nice things offensively for the Blazers aside from just stand in the corners and space the floor.
In a limited sample this season, Trent Jr. has shown the ability to shoot the three effectively off the dribble. 31% (1.3 attempts per game) of his three’s this season came from pull ups and he shot a robust 41.9% on them.
We’ve seen a bit more of the pull up three from Trent Jr. since the seeding games began (2.5 attempts) and he’s looked very confident taking those shots.
Additionally in the seeding games, over 50% of Trent Jr.’s shots have come from non-corner three’s and he has shot 60% on non-corner triples, which is in the 100th percentile among wings (per CleaningTheGlass).
He’s on a hot streak right now but if he can continue to hit these kinds of shots consistently and can develop his ability to create his own shot, especially developing his ability to get to the rim where he only took 15% of his shots.
He does benefit a lot from the gravity and space that playing with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum naturally create, with 70% of his shots this season have come with a defender 4+ feet away from him and 86% of his three’s in the six seeding games have been assisted.
But that spacing will be important to freeing up more room for Lillard and McCollum, especially with a non-shooter like Nurkic or Whiteside on the floor. Teams will have to start respecting Trent Jr. or he will make them pay as we’ve seen so far in the four seeding games.
Trent Jr.’s combination of shooting and solid perimeter defense gives the Blazers a reliable wing defender to close games, something that is even more vital for Portland after Trevor Ariza opted out of the restart.
While injuries can derail a season, it can also allow more opportunities for players down the bench who may not have gotten a chance otherwise.
Gary Trent Jr. is making the most of his shot so far in Orlando.
