JJ Redick’s edict as the new Los Angeles Lakers head coach was to shoot more 3-pointers.
After the Lakers missed out on lights-out shooter Klay Thompson, there is another unrestricted free agent who can boost their outside shooting.
Gary Trent Jr. fits the bill.
The Lakers have the second-best odds to land Trent, who shares the same agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, with the team’s superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
OntarioBets.com put the Lakers at +450 (18.2% probability) to sign Trent behind the slightly favored Orlando Magic, another team that desperately needs outside shooting.
The Magic have the best odds at +350 (22.2% probability). The Sacramento Kings are a distant third at +600 (11.8% probability).
Last season, the Lakers ranked 28th in 3-point attempts per game. Trent is a high-volume 3-point shooter, who attempts 6.4 per game.
The 6-foot-5 gunner averaged 2.4 3-pointers per game in his first six seasons in the NBA. He’s a 39% 3-point shooter and a pesky defender. He averaged 1.2 steals per game in his career and 1.1 last season for the Toronto Raptors.
Trent could give the Lakers a tremendous two-way player off the bench.
The 6-foot-5 gunner averaged 2.4 3-pointers per game in his first six seasons in the NBA. He’s a 39% 3-point shooter and a pesky defender. He averaged 1.2 steals per game in his career and 1.1 last season for the Toronto Raptors.
Trent could give the Lakers a tremendous two-way player off the bench.
Lakers’ Limited Avenue to Sign Gary Trent
However, the Lakers are only limited in what they can offer.
If James, who agreed to a two-year, $104 million max deal, gives the Lakers a $1 million discount to get under the second apron, their $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception will be their only available money for Trent above the veteran minimum.
According to ESPN’s front office insider Bobby Marks, the Lakers have to clear at least $25 million in salary to open their $12.8 million non-tax mid level exception
A sign-and-trade or signing a player to the $12.8 million exception triggers the $178.1 million first apron.
Marks expects the Lakers to become a second-apron team after all their offseason transactions.
Lakers Can Take Advantage of Gary Trent’s Suppressed Market
Trent had just finished a three-year deal worth $52 million. But it is unlikely he will earn close to that amount in his next contract.
“I don’t even think he’s going to get the mid-level,” one Eastern Conference general manager told Sportsnet Canada’s Michael Grange.
With the new, restrictive Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams have become prudent in doling out contracts.
The Raptors, who were allowed to negotiate with him once the NBA Finals was over, did not offer him one.
“You want to be strategic about what’s tradable, what’s not tradable,” Raptors GM Bobby Webster about signing Trent Jr. prior to free agency, per Sportsnet Canada. “ We have some big contracts coming up in the future, so it’ll just have to be something that makes sense for everyone.”
The Lakers can take advantage and sign him to a one-year MLE deal and reset his market for the next free agency.
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