Raptors reportedly nearing large extension with young guard

After exercising his 2023-24 player option worth $18,785,000, Gary Trent Jr. is closing in on a “lucrative multiyear extension” with the Toronto Raptors, league sources tell Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report (Twitter link).

Trent will be extension-eligible on July 7, so a new deal would technically have to wait about a week before becoming official.

The 24-year-old had long been expected to opt out of his option in order to sign a longer-term deal worth perhaps $18-20M annually. It seems as though that money will be coming to fruition, but instead of with a new club, the young shooting guard will be staying in Toronto.

As Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca notes (via Twitter), Trent’s extension technically could be worth up to $116.4M with a starting salary of $25.98M in 2024-25 due to a change in how veteran extensions work in the new CBA. Murphy doesn’t believe Trent will receive that robust total, but it gives more wiggle room for negotiating a larger sum.

Trent is coming off a solid two-and-a-half year stint with the Raptors in which he averaged 17.7 points per game on .420/.374/.843 shooting while chipping in 1.6 SPG. He was acquired via trade from Portland in March 2021 for Norman Powell.

The Raptors have been active in free agency, re-signing Jakob Poeltl to a four-year deal while losing longtime veteran Fred VanVleet, who received a three-year, maximum-salary contract from the Houston Rockets. Toronto quickly pivoted to replace VanVleet by signing Dennis Schröder.