Recently acquired guard Gary Trent Jr. is quickly making Toronto Raptors fans forget about Norman Powell while once making Masai Ujiri look like the basketball Oracle that he is.
Nine games into his Raptors career, Trent Jr. erupted for one the most efficient games in NBA history. Letting his drip to the talk, the former Portland Trail Blazers guard scored a career-high 44 points on an absurd 17-of-19 shooting.
Trent Jr.’s 89.5 FG% marks the second-highest field-goal percentage for any player with 44+ points in a game during the shot clock era (1954-55), trailing only Mike Woodson (48 PTS on 91.7 FG%) in 1983.
The Raptors scored a franchise record 87 first-half points to cruise to a 135-115 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Gary Trent Jr. scored 25 of his career-high 44 points in the first half.
Since the acquisition by the Raptors the former Duke Blue Devils standout is averaging 15.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
Overall, Trent Jr. has provided similar production to what Norman Powell was giving the Raptors on a nightly basis.
Toronto is expected to resign their newly acquired prized possession for half the amount they would have to dished to to attempt to sign the peaking Norman Powell.
Notoriously known for finding gems, via the NBA Draft or through free-agency, Raptors General manager Masai Ujiri continues to find ways to optimize and improve the roster while staying below the salary cap.
