Gary Trent Jr. Says it Would be 'Cool' to be Part of the NBA's Three-Point Contest

Toronto Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr. deserves a spot in the NBA's All-Star Weekend Three-Point Contest

Aaron Rose | Feb 2, 2022

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, and Precious Achiuwa aren't the only Toronto Raptors players who should be heading to Cleveland for All-Star Game festivities later this month.

If the NBA is a true meritocracy then Gary Trent Jr. deserves a spot in the three-point contest. Not only is he averaging 3.2 three-pointers per game, the eighth-most in the league, but he's doing it at a blistering 39.7% clip.

Consider this: Nobody in last year's three-point contest averaged fewer than 6.5 three-point attempts per game last season. Utah's Mike Conley averaged the fewest of the six contestants, shooting 41.2% on 6.6 attempts per game. Using that 6.5 attempts per game cutoff, Trent's 39.7% is the sixth-best in the NBA behind only Patty Mills, Lonzo Ball, Demond Bane, Max Strus, and Anfernee Simons.

Additionally, Trent's 3.2 three-pointers per game is the fourth-most in the league for anyone averaging at least 38.6% from behind the arc, the cutoff for last year's three-point contest. Only VanVleet, Mills, and CJ McCollum sit ahead of Trent in that category.

The problem, as Trent pointed out Tuesday following his fifth straight 30-point performance, is the NBA usually prefers its superstars to participate in the contest and Trent doesn't quite fit the bill yet.

"It would be something cool to be a part of," he said Tuesday. "Last year I feel like I had a lot of threes but they don't put your name in there unless you do it after years and years of knocking at that door. So I'm just going to continue to go out there and play and whatever happens, happens."

Should the invite come, though, Trent certainly sounds more than willing to participate.

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