The Raptors are on a six game winning streak largely due to 23 year old up and coming two-way star Gary Trent Jr.
What do advanced metrics say about Trent Jr's impact and what this teams outlook could be the rest of the season?
Advanced stats used in this article are from Statmuse.com and ESPN.com.
Just over one year ago, Gary Trent Jr. was sitting in Portland unhappy with his development and organizational role before being the centerpiece in a trade to Toronto for Norman Powell. Recent reports from Yahoo and Sports Illustrated have analyzed further what had gone wrong in Portland and how a good working environment and a supportive coach in Nick Nurse changed everything.
In fact, Toronto has been an amazing place for growth with tremendous people running the organization, which has Trent Jr.’s development skyrocketing faster than most people had envisioned. Powell is now playing great for the Clippers, not the Trailblazers anymore, while the Raptors are thankful they have two-way star Trent Jr. blossoming in front of their eyes on their team.
Trent Jr has played solid all season long, but over the past two weeks, he has taken his game up a notch, averaging 28 points, 1.7 steals, and 5.3 three-pointers made per game with a 3PT% of 50.7 since January 24th. During that span, the Raptors have won seven out of their last eight games and are currently on a six-game win streak, something that wouldn’t have occurred without Trent Jr.’s contributions.
Trent Jr. scored over 30 points in five of those seven games, and even though he has “slowed down” on his 30 point scoring outbursts failing to have reached that number three games in a row after scoring 30 points or more in the five games before that, he is still shooting lights out and playing elite perimeter defense.
Pascal Siakam recently won Eastern Conference Player of the Week and his high-level scoring along with All-Star Fred VanVleet’s has made it hard for Trent Jr. to get 30 points in his last three games where he scored 16, 19, and 24 respectively. During this six-game win streak and Trent Jr’s scoring outburst, the Raptors have overtaken the Hornets, Celtics, and Nets and sit comfortably at the 6th spot in the Eastern Conference.
If Trent Jr. can continue his elite shooting and perimeter defense for the rest of the season to go along with strong performances from VanVleet, Siakam, and Rookie Scottie Barnes, then the Raptors may find themselves back into at least the second round of the playoffs again this season.