Gary Trent Jr. on coming off the bench next season

Toronto Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr. discusses likely coming off the bench next season, how the offence differs compared to last season and where he sees opportunity for him to excel in a new offensive system.

Video Transcript

- What's been the biggest challenge for you in terms of getting to know Darko and these new assistants?

GARY TRENT JR.: I wouldn't really say there's really too many challenges. It's pretty easy. It's not too hard or too complex. You know, just swing the ball, cut, so I wouldn't really say it's challenging.

- How is it different?

GARY TRENT JR.: Than what?

- Than what you had the last two, two and a half years.

GARY TRENT JR.: I would say, first, we've been moving it a little bit more. It's going about side to side. I would say not as many post-ups as we had in the last year or two, but, obviously, still doing certain things and getting to them, but whether it's different ways, or different motions, or different setups to get to it, so it's not just, you know, dribble down, look, look, look, and throw it. You know, everybody gets a feel for it. Everybody touches it to eventually get it there. So it was different.

- Does it suit your game, just having the ball move side to side, or having you moving to position yourself for the ball at all?

GARY TRENT JR.: For sure. You know, this offense is complementary to me, in the sense of just being able to space the floor. It's a lot of driving. It's a lot of cutting. It's a lot of open corner 3's, you know, that type of stuff, so it should benefit me, you know, well.

- Darko has talked about kind of expanding the rotation this year. Obviously, you guys have played a pretty tight rotation the last few years. How beneficial do you think that can be, kind of from the top of the roster to the bottom, just in terms of more opportunity for guys, but also maybe to balance the minutes throughout the rotation?

GARY TRENT JR.: Yeah, true, it could obviously. You know, obviously, everybody's gonna play a different amount of minutes, and Coach is gonna control who does that, how many minutes, how long they're on the floor, who's on the floor, who's starting, who's not starting. So, you know, that's gonna be up to him, but, yeah, for the most part.

- You've said you have communicated with him pretty effectively early on through camp when you were talking after media day, or whatever, but have you had many conversations about the fact that Dennis has started the first two exhibition games, and is that something he's communicated to you, in terms of what he's looking for from your role, or is it just still wait and see right now?

GARY TRENT JR.: No. As of right now, it's gonna be what it's gonna be. I haven't heard anything about coming off the bench, starting. Obviously, the first two games, I've been coming off the bench. Practices, I've been with the second unit in everything we're doing. So, the writing's on the wall, so just continue to go, come in and help, and help to win as much as I can.

- I was gonna say, I mean, even last year, at times, you were fluctuating between the bench and starting. You always seemed to respond well. Like, it didn't really seem to affect your production very much. I mean, if it does end up you're part of that second unit on a regular basis, what's your reaction to that, and how do you feel about it?

GARY TRENT JR.: Obviously, you know, you work to start in the league, and start for a team, and help a team as much as you can. But, again, I have no control over that. So, again, whatever it's gonna be it's gonna be. I can only control me coming in, working, being a great teammate, and contribute to winning. That's all I can help with. That's all I can do. There's no time to complain and nag about what's going on, how the situation is and how I wanted it. There's none of that. I'm coming, working, and I'm gonna do what I need to do to help this team win.

- The first game in Vancouver, you guys shot five mid-range jumpers. On the shot chart for Boston, I think there were two non-3's not in the paint. So, I mean, obviously, you've taken some shots from that range previously in your career. Do you find yourself sort of altering the shots you're taking within the system, or is it just what's not coming within the system for you?

GARY TRENT JR.: I would say, really, just whatever comes with the system. You know, again, obviously, it's a lot of 3's, a lot of spacing. It's a lot of, like, 0.5-second basketball, in a sense, almost close to, I want to say, kind of close to the Spurs, with summertime offense, and kind of close to the Warriors, in a sense, which is the stuff we're trying to practice, whether it's just pass, cut, moving, moving without the ball, that type of thing. But, you know, it should be good.

- Gary, last week, you guys had a practice that was more defensively focused. Then the following one was more offensively focused, or vise versa. I can't remember. Now that you guys are two preseason games in, what's the focus in practice and going into Chicago?

GARY TRENT JR.: Our main focus this week and going to Chicago is, obviously, just us, obviously, our game last night. We just wanted to make sure that we were as solid as we want to be on both ends, offense and defense, and then, obviously, that wasn't an NBA team. They're still a good team. But now we're going to Chicago, and it should be a good road test for us on the road and preseason to get us acclimated for the first game on the 25th.

- Is there any difficulty with, I don't know if it's ramping up, or having another switch in your head, to go from playing a team like Cairns to, again, like, an NBA team, like Chicago?

GARY TRENT JR.: No, not really, because, you know, at the end of the day, you're still going against professionals, no matter what level you're on, and you obviously still want to put a certain product out there of yourself. So, no matter who you're really playing, you don't really want to try to vary to we're playing in Chicago, or we're playing a team from Australia. You want to just keep going as hard as you can, no matter what.

- Last time you guys played Chicago, free throws was an issue, right, in the play-in game. Has that been a bigger focus for this team in the preseason so far?

GARY TRENT JR.: I wouldn't say we really harped too much on free throws, but, really, just harping, paying attention to detail. You know, obviously, it's also staying locked in all the way throughout practice, all the way to the end. You know, obviously, it can get long. It can get hectic. You can get tired. But, you know, still having that mental aspect and staying locked in, I would say that's the most we've talked about it as a group, as a core, as a team.

- Is it possible to practice high-leverage free throws in practice?

GARY TRENT JR.: When you say "high-leverage," is that just a lot of attempts, or--

- No, like, you know, play-in game, game's on the line, how do you practice important free throws in Ovo that way?

GARY TRENT JR.: You can practice many ways. You can try to hit 10 in a row, hit five in a row, two in a row, and if you miss, sprints, you know, motivation, something, something to make you make it. You know, obviously, you want to make all your free throws, but it's about just paying attention to detail and reps, at the end of the day, to be honest. That's all it's really on, you know, staying focused.

- Thanks, Gary.

- Thanks, Gary. Appreciate it.