Raptors' Gary Trent Jr. on Rico Hines runs, offseason development

Toronto Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr. discusses the uniqueness of Rico Hines runs during the offseason, his excitement to take in Victoria B.C during training camp and how he developed during the offseason. Check out all of the Raptors media day availabilities on our YouTube channel.

Video Transcript

MICHAEL GRANGE: Hello. [CHUCKLES] Hey, Gary.

GARY TRENT, JR.: How you doing?

MICHAEL GRANGE: Michael Grange from Sportsnet. Kind of an interesting year for you last season, and now you're coming into what is an option year for your contract. And how do you approach it? Is it any different in your mind, or are you just about kind of trying to continue the momentum you built last season with-- in Toronto?

GARY TRENT, JR.: Really just continue to show improve. Continue to keep working, continue to keep get better, you know, and go from there. I'm excited. I can't wait to get this year started.

Last year coming into it, it was my first year. Didn't really know what to expect. Didn't know what they had to offer. Didn't know what came with it, none of that. Now I got a better picture of what's going on here, my situation, the situation of the team. So it's cool

MICHAEL GRANGE: And [INAUDIBLE] because you picked-- you go into the offseason trying to [INAUDIBLE]? Or [INAUDIBLE] so last season [INAUDIBLE]?

GARY TRENT, JR.: It's a little bit of both, just adding to my game, obviously. Continue to get better, all angles, on all aspects. Experience will do that. So it's just that.

JOSHUA LEWENBERG: Hey, Gary. Joshua Lewenberg, TSN. You guys came into camp last year when you were a very young team, a new team, a lot of new guys. This year, you've got a lot of guys back. And Nick was just talking to us about all the time that you guys spent together as a group in LA working out this summer. How much do you think that continuity and that chemistry that you've built-- how much do you think that helps going into a new year?

GARY TRENT, JR.: It helps a lot, especially early on. We're going to British Columbia for training camp. A lot of us are going to places we've never been to before. We're about to have new experiences together, as a team, whether it's good or bad.

And all those things help to grow throughout the year, and at the end of the year, through your experiences. And how you end up being how you look and the outcome of your team. So really, that's about it, though. You know? Besides that.

- Gary, Adam here from "Daily Hive." As a player who still has-- wants to experience playoff success in this league, how do you keep your eyes focused on the end goal while also not looking too far ahead, just with the day to day of the NBA season?

GARY TRENT, JR.: Well, again, just taking it day by day. It's a long season. It's a grind. It's a stretch. It's everything you signed up for. It's what you prepare for. So really just doing the little things, paying attention to detail, taking care of your body, watching film, all that stuff.

SAMSON FOLK: Gary. Samson Folk, "Raptor Republic" over here. Hi. So last year you had your most prolific playmaking stretch and your most prolific scoring stretch of your career. How do you plan on balancing those two aspects of your game heading into this season?

GARY TRENT, JR.: Just taking it game by time, possession at a time. Whatever the situation is, use the knowledge and the experience that I got to make the best decision from there. You know, whether it's to make a shot, whether it's to send somebody up, find an open guy, just play the game, let it come natural.

- Hey, Gary. Lindsay with "CityNews Toronto." I hope you had a good summer. Just wondering if you can take us into what it was like to be part of those Rico Hines runs and what they're like, because from the outside, it looks intense. It looks fun.

GARY TRENT, JR.: Yeah, it's everything you just said. It's intensity, it's fun, it's NBA environment. You know, you get the NBA experience during the summertime. It's not really a lot of places you can go where you have that many NBA people under one roof, whether it's players, whether it's coaches, whether-- whoever it may be. So it's great. Whenever you can get that run, get that bump, get that experience of during the season, when it's not even during the season. So those runs are second to none.