Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr. has decided to exercise his player option for the 2023-24 season, agents Rich Paul and Lucas Newton of Klutch Sports tell Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT (Twitter links).
The move will guarantee Trent’s $18.56M salary for next season and will keep him off this year’s free-agent market, lining him up instead for unrestricted free agency in 2024.
It’s a surprising decision, given that Trent had long been expected to opt out in order to sign a longer-term deal worth perhaps $18-20M annually. The 24-year-old is coming off a solid two-and-a-half-year stint in Toronto in which he averaged 17.7 points per game on .420/.374/.843 shooting while chipping in 1.6 SPG.
Trent, who is still entering his prime, is projected to be one of the best three-and-D players on the market. It’s possible his agents quietly gauged his market and found it wasn’t robust as anticipated.
A desire to remain in Toronto also factored into Trent’s decision, according to Haynes, who says the two sides intend to explore a multiyear agreement. Once he officially picks up his option, the former Trail Blazer will be on track to become extension-eligible in July.
While Trent’s decision to opt in will keep one key Raptors contributor off the free-agent market, two others are still expected to become free agents on July 1. Starting point guard Fred VanVleet already declined his own 2023-24 player option, while center Jakob Poeltl will see his current contract expire on June 30.
As Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca tweets, Trent’s $18M+ cap hit will make it more challenging for the Raptors to bring back both VanVleet and Poeltl on market-value deals and avoid the luxury tax. While it’s not impossible, it may require a cost-cutting move or two.
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