3 players Golden State Warriors should’ve taken over Jacob Evans III
Gary Trent Jr.
Late to the party, Gary Trent Jr. has started to blossom behind CJ McCollum. Fighting more minutes before one of the best backcourts in the association, Trent Jr. is finally starting to hit stride after showing little signs of progress last season.
The 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Duke slipped in the draft. He wasn’t projected to have an overly high ceiling and didn’t look quite as athletic as he should’ve been to translate his game to the next level.
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They were wrong.
Trent Jr., now averaging 7.7 points per game, is on the verge of becoming one of the most important players on Portland’s bench. It’s because of his sharpshooting abilities as well, nearing 40% from downtown.
Trent Jr.’s minutes increased from 7.4 to 20 his rookie to sophomore season. That transition is what gave him the ability to shine. Picked right after Mitchell Robinson, Trent Jr. would’ve started to gain popularity had Portland been able to make another deep postseason run like last season.
Evans III has the ability to be like Trent Jr.
He needed to work on his shooting and become more confident on the offensive end. Not quite with the same opportunity and having been injuries throughout this season, Evans’ second year in the league didn’t come close to matching Trent Jr.’s.