This season, Gary Trent Jr. is averaging 15 points, 1.4 assists, and 1.7 rebounds per game on 43% shooting from 3-point range
Rodney Hood, who is playing less than 20 minutes per game this season, is averaging 4.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.2 assists while shooting only 29.8% from deep
The 27 year old Norman Powell is averaging 19.6 points, 1.1 steals, 1.8 assists, and 2.5 rebounds, and is shooting 43.9% from behind the arc.
This one is a little bit of a head scratcher for me. Norman Powell has significantly increased his points per game for the past 4 years
In no way is he a old veteran having a resurgence late in his career he is just developing. In my eyes, the Raptors view this as a straight trade for Gary Trent Jr. Trent is only 22 years old so I guess they were avoiding a big pay day for Powell who was only making just over 11 and a half million dollars this season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in a couple of seasons.
Trent will likely find himself as the 6-man playing a similar role that he did on the Trailblazers. In fact, both of these players will probably feel right at home. Powell just offers so much more for Portland than Trent ever could. Norman comes with legit championship experience being that he played a massive role, and in some respect, had his coming out party in that playoff run that finished in Toronto’s first finals victory. That is something that no one on the Trailblazers roster has ever gotten close to. None of them know what it means to win. While on paper, Powell only averages 5 more points, he clearly brings so much more to the table. This trade also officially signals the rebuild for the Raptors who had an outward appearance of commitment to being playoff contenders from the onset of this season.
