NBA trade rumors: Gary Trent Jr. sends Lakers fans into a frenzy on Twitter
By Jason Reed
The NBA trade deadline is right around the corner and the NBA trade rumors are growing with every passing day. The Los Angeles Lakers were the first team to cash in on the trade rumors, trading three second-round picks to the Washington Wizards for Rui Hachimura.
This could be the start of a bigger roster overhaul for Los Angeles as there are several trades the team can still make to improve as a contender. It would be shocking if Rob Pelinka stops at just adding Hachimura to the rotation.
One player that Pelinka may have his sights set on is Toronto’s Gary Trent Jr. Trent is one of the most prominent names tangled in NBA trade rumors and has ties to the Lakers. Trent is a Klutch Sports client and it is no secret that Klutch has some sort of influence on the Lakers.
Lakers fans have been eyeballing Trent from a distance in recent weeks, pondering whether or not a potential trade is possible. The 24-year-old stoked those flames recently with a very simple like on Twitter. Lakers fans noticed, though, and they busted out their investigative hats to see if this means anything for Trent and his future.
Gary Trent Jr. could force a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers still are not the most likely destination for Gary Trent Jr. but he (and Klutch Sports) could absolutely try to force him to LA in a similar way that they did with Anthony Davis.
Trent has a player option for the 2023-24 season and it is very clear that he is not going to pick up that option. Any team that is trading for him knows that he is an expiring contract but they get his Bird Rights, which is very valuable in potentially re-signing him.
Trent and Klutch could make it clear to the Raptors (and other teams in the league) that he will end up leaving for the Lakers regardless in the offseason. If Klutch leverages it correctly, this could take a lot of potential suitors out of the race and lower his trade value for Toronto in return.
Suddenly, a package from the Lakers of Lonnie Walker IV (Klutch will want Walker in Toronto so he can still increase his free-agent value for the summer), Patrick Beverley and a future first could be the market price for Trent.
The ball would then be in Toronto’s court. They don’t have to trade Trent at the deadline. But if the team has no intentions of re-signing him in the summer, and he does not want to return, it would be malpractice to not get something for him at the deadline.
Of course, this is all assuming that Trent wants to go to the Lakers. If that is not something he cares for then there is no world in which he is trying to leverage himself to come to LA. But based on his latest Twitter activity, it could be something he is pondering.