At the first day of the Portland Trail Blazers’ training camp, Gary Trent Jr. displayed a supreme level of confidence.
Gary Trent Jr. is already being noticed by his teammates for his fearlessness. The moment came at the end of the Portland Trail Blazers first day of training camp.
NBA.com’s Casey Holdahl reported on the event.
Before the first physically grueling day of practice ended, the team was to run its final drill – one that tests the players’ endurance:
"The drill starts with a player throwing a ball to one of the coaches, who then passes it back to the player, who then passes it to the other coach standing on their side of the court, who passes it back to the player, who then sprints down the court for a layup, which is rebounded by a player who then starts the process all over. If they combine for 80 layups in two minutes, the drill is almost over."
To officially finish practice, one player must step out from the line and drain a free throw; otherwise, the drill is ran once again. Most of the time, this responsibility is saved for either Damian Lillard or CJ McCollum.
This, however, was not most times.
Rather than one of Rip City’s veteran stars, rookie Trent stepped up to the line in what was his first NBA practice. When Holdahl asked him about his decision to take the shot, he said this:
"“I always believe in myself. In college, at one point in time, I was shooting like 93 percent, finished the year at 89, so I feel like I’m a good free throw shooter. So when Coach asked us who wanted to go up and shoot, everybody was taking too long, so I just went up.”"
Unfortunately, not everything went as planned. Trent missed the shot, meaning the team was forced to sprint for layups a second time.
Though his teammates were obviously frustrated at the outset, they changed their tune upon reflection.
Lillard liked the Duke product’s grit and referenced the fact Trent may be called on to take tough shots in real-game situations. Evan Turner said he thought it revealed Trent’s toughness.
Trent himself was not fazed by the miss. Although Lillard took the shot the next time, Trent sounded ready to capitalize on the next opportunity he gets to prove his toughness:
"“Didn’t get the outcome I wanted, but if the opportunity presents itself, I’ll do it again. And I’ll make it.”"
But we probably shouldn’t be surprised by this vignette. Since coming into the draft, Trent has been touted as a relentless player.
DraftExpress noted some of his key strengths being his “alpha-dog mentality,” his hunger for points, and his aggression.
In NBA Summer League, he attempted the most two- and three-point shots out of the team (79 and 30, respectively) and averaged 11.4 points per game. For what it’s worth, he also went 15-for-15 from the charity stripe.
In Portland’s first preseason outing against the Toronto Raptors, he took a team-high 11 shot attempts in 20.5 minutes. While he only hit three of these, it still speaks volume to his belief in himself to keep shooting, knowing the next one will fall.
This confidence and persistence is exactly what you want in a 37th overall pick. There are certainly holes in his game, and these intangibles alone will not make him into a great player, but they’re the fast-track to vastly improving.