Gary Trent Jr.'s Superstar Company From Three

Gary Trent Jr. is in exclusive, superstar company this season when it comes to volume and versatility from beyond the arc. What does his improvement say about his long-term ceiling?

Gary Trent Jr.'s play in the Orlando bubble, it turns out, was no aberration after all.

Six weeks into his third NBA season, the Trail Blazers guard hasn't taken the big, all-around leap his biggest believers saw coming in wake of his breakout at Disney World. Flashes of that sweeping improvement have certainly come at times, but not enough for Trent to avoid the inconsistencies that plague all young players. He's scored at least 18 points on six occasions this season, and failed to reach double-digits altogether on seven more.

Still, it's not like the clear strides Trent has taken in 2020-21 are tough to tell by the eye test. They've just come mostly in the same, splashy manner that made him a mini star of the league restart last August. 

Case in point: Trent is making 44.7 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes, and connecting on 40.7 percent of his pull-up threes, per NBA.com/stats. The only other high-volume long-range shooters in the league to eclipse 40 percent shooting on each type of attempt? Steph Curry and Paul George. 

Not bad company for a former second-round pick who racked up a string of DNP-CDs during the early portion of last season.

It's tempting to assume the most dangerous aspect of Trent's game could inhibit growth in areas that need it most. Why try and get to the rim if you can side-step aggressive close-outs for a clean look from three? Why look to make the extra pass when you're ultra-confident letting fly with a defender in your face? 

Sure enough, mid-December grousing of Trent's struggles revolved mostly around his streaky jumper and lack of offensive impact otherwise. The ebbs and flows of a player who takes well over half his shots from deep are far more volatile and noticeable than those of others.

What seems clear now is that hopes of Trent becoming a more playmaking, ball-dominant off-guard are fading. He's certainly added some nuance off the bounce as a second-side creator, is more comfortable working in mid-range and has shown a bit deeper bag of tricks close to the rim. 

But Trent doesn't have the quick-twitch burst needed to regularly crease the paint, nor the blend of length and vertical pop to ever be much more than an average finisher. His passing ingenuity, or lack thereof, might be the surest indicator of his slightly lowered ceiling compared to optimistic preseason expectations.

Here's the thing – Trent might be such an awesome shooter that he can still be a major offensive difference-maker anyway. He's already drawing committed defensive attention spotting up on the weak-side and pulling threes behind picks and dribble hand-offs. The next frontier? Adding even more versatility to his jumper and learning to sprint around off-ball screens, further warping a defense alarmed by his shooting threat.

But for now, Blazers fans can be content watching Trent let fly with abandon, whether off the catch or the dribble. As the numbers make abundantly clear, there are only so many shooters like him.