Portland Trail Blazers: Is Gary Trent Jr. worth a big payday this summer?

Portland Trail Blazers breakout guard Gary Trent Jr. has now signed with power agency Klutch. Does the second-year player deserve a big deal right away?

Gary Trent Jr. recently signed with super agency Klutch Sports. The Portland Trail Blazers second-year guard changed agencies, with Klutch and Rich Paul recruiting Trent and his agent and the same time.

Because Trent is a second-round pick and only on a three-year deal, he can now negotiate an extension this offseason.

This is a tricky situation for the Blazers. Trent broke out like we haven’t seen a Blazer do since Jusuf Nurkic’s explosion after he was traded here.

In the NBA’s return, Trent played 13 games and averaged 14.1 points a game. Even more impressively, he averaged 48 percent from three, on a whopping seven attempts a game.

Trent impressed defensively as well, always guarding the opposition’s best player. Trent is without a doubt a starting-caliber two / three now. But, he has still only played 76 games in his career. His 40.5 percent from three is a great mark, but it is a small sample on only 268 attempts.

Trent will likely improve things like his ball-handling and finishing at the rim, but does he deserve a big raise after just 40 or so strong games?

Per Bobby Marks of ESPN, CBA rules allow Trent to ink an extension this summer up to a maximum amount of $51 million over four years.

This would equate to around $13 million a year. This size deal I would expect to give to a starting-caliber wing. I think that Trent is worth this amount of money in an extension, but I would like to see him play out the 2021 season before inking a new deal.

This is fair for both parties. Trent gets to play rotation or maybe even starter minutes for a whole season. He can spend all this summer developing too, and then negotiate a new deal the following summer when the third year of his rookie deal finishes.

I don’t think that any team would offer Trent more than $13 million a year in free agency, so he isn’t a flight risk in 2021. Waiting a year and letting Trent have a proper role on the team gives the Blazers some time to iron out the other rotation pieces too.

Trent is a longterm piece for this team, and he deserves a $50 million deal, but he needs to play one more full year before it should be given to him.