The Los Angeles Lakers may be interested in pursuing shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. in free agency, although the team would likely need to shed salary in order to do so.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the Lakers “can’t even make a run” at Trent until they can distance themselves from the second luxury tax apron. Los Angeles is only “marginally distanced” from the second apron after brining back LeBron James on a two-year deal worth just over $101 million.
Stein noted that the Lakers are “exploring pathways” to shed salary in trades, although that also may be tricky.
“Yet even those kinds of moves likely require some form of second-round draft capital attached and taking in a player via sign-and-trade, as a first apron team, is not permitted under the league’s new rules,” he wrote.
Shams Charania and Jovan Buha of The Athletic previously reported on Sunday that Trent is a “name to watch” for Los Angeles on the $5.2 million tax-payer mid-level exception.
After the 25-year-old was acquired by the Toronto Raptors in a 2021 trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, he thrived as a high-volume sharpshooter and averaged 17.9 points per game from the 2021-22 season through his 2022-23 campaign.
However, Trent is coming off a relatively subpar year and could experience a change of scenery with Toronto handing out long-term deals to Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley over the summer. Josh Lewenberg of TSN reported on Monday that the Raptors “are prepared to move on from” from the swingman.
Lewenberg also revealed that Trent’s representatives were “believed” to be asking for an average annual salary of $25 million on his new deal.
It’s a surprising request, as his scoring average of 13.7 points per game last season represented his lowest mark since his 2019-20 campaign. Still, he shot 42.6 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from behind the arc while taking 6.4 long-range attempts each night.
If the Lakers are able to find trade partners and shed salary to move further away from the second apron, Trent could find himself wearing purple and gold next season.
