Competing executives around the league don’t expect the Raptors to retain Gary Trent Jr., who may opt out of his $18.8 million contract. But he’ll need to do his homework to ensure that money is available in free agency (which may not be a lock in this market).
by EarthWarping
17 Comments
As much as I love his shooting, I think his defense and lack of decision making skills is what brings the team down. So many chances where he blows a transition opportunity by not passing or straight up bricking an easy layup.
Also, it’s very hard to watch him get exploited on defense.
Also on FVV:
>But don’t write off a VanVleet reunion entirely. The 29-year-old guard has a $22.8 million player option for 2023-24. Most around the league expect him to opt out to either re-sign with the Raptors or move on entirely.
>VanVleet may be able to get Jalen Brunson-level dollars ($26 million per season), but his best path to a playoff contender could be to opt in and extend. Under the incoming rules, VanVleet can sign an extension in July…as high as $32 million. That would open the door to a longer list of teams like the Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns or Brooklyn Nets.
>Otherwise, he may find viable suitors as an unrestricted free agent in the Jazz, Magic or Rockets. The Mavericks might have enough spending room without Christian Wood and Irving (and others, likely via trade or waiver).
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10074755-2023-nba-free-agency-best-available-guards-and-their-top-landing-spots
Would love if we could find a way to grab Poole and Kuminga +/- Moody or their pick for a combo of Gary and OG. Know that might be controversial but I think people are too low on Poole who just one playoffs ago was on a heater and allowed the W to get to the finals in the first place. Say what you want but he’s def better than Gary and him being overpaid means we could maybe grab a pick back along with Kuminga who still has potential but doesn’t play (and Masai liked him predraft)
Warriors need to get rid of someone if they want to keep Draymond
Is Gary really that terrible, though? Could it be that he just didn’t thrive under Nick Nurse but might do better with someone else?
Edit: y’all are harsh. No one thrived under Nurse last season – streakiness all over the place. Are all the players garbage? No. I’m saying maybe Gary would do better with someone else at the helm and not someone who throws him under the bus publicly.
Competing executives also thought he was going to be traded at the deadline so that kind of shows what they (don’t) know
Best case scenario for the Raptors would be if Gary opts in, plays consistently as a 6th man and we can unload him at the deadline.
“Most around the league expect him to opt out, re-sign or leave” wow what a shock the league expects fred to do every possibility out there
You think? Exactly why masais stance was so stupid at the deadline because they have to resign poetl to justify the trade no Trent and fvv is up in the air. So basically a cash strapped team with no shooters or shooting is going to come back with even less shooting and no cap to even get some. Lmaooo dumb af
Gary is a good player when he’s on but he had a down year. I don’t think he’s going to get as big of a pay day compared to when we had this conversation a year ago.
I hope he stays but if he walks so be it. We’re up against the cap and given he’d be coming off the bench we could spend that money on a couple depth shooters instead.
I don’t think Gary is a long term piece on this team but we absolutely can’t afford to lose any more rotation players for nothing. Especially since we could have just kept Norm on a long term deal like the 5/90 he ended up signing.
I think the best solution for both parties is to re-sign him on a 2-3 year deal at ~$22m ish and see what he looks like under a new coach.
To Gary’s credit, when he’s good he’s really good. He’s also young and has room to grow. But it also seems to me that Gary didn’t play himself into a significantly better contract this year despite our real need for him to step up. If he opts out, then I don’t think we’ll retain him for more than 22 million. If I remember correctly, there were also reports that other teams just weren’t that keen on him at the time — so what market are we competing with?
Fred for ~30 seems about right though. He’s not playing like a consistent All-Star and 30 seems like the market value for a borderline All-Star guard.
If they don’t retain GTJ then it’s a major fumble because they could have easily obtain draft capital for him before the deadline this year…the FO and ownership really shit the bed in a big way before the deadline! if they allow both Fred and GTJ walk for nothing, this team is in trouble next season…I’m confused on the direction their going?? they don’t seem to have a clear direction for this team other than making really bad decisions lately…
If GTJ leaves for nothing that’s another big L for the FO
Why does a story of GTJ have kuzma on the thumbnail?
He’s not leaving that on the table, I don’t think he’s getting close to that anywhere else. He’s.goinf to opt in whether we want him to or not imo
Yes free up some cap space.
Most likely scenario: We pay all 3 guys (probably enter the tax), look at how the season is going and make a decision at the deadline.
If there’s no improvement, I expect Masai to hit the reset button or at the very least to make a couple of trades to get under the tax.
If there’s an improvement, ride it out and see how the playoff shakes out. Then depending on playoff success or lack thereof, Masai takes the appropriate decision. (1st/2nd round exit -> hard reset, otherwise probably some continuity)