The Miami Heat appear quite confident that they will land Giannis Antetokounmpo, as they might be preparing for corresponding moves. Per NBA insider Jake Fischer (subscription required), the Heat's desire to add more 3-point shooting to complement Antetokounmpo and Adebayo is something they are already thinking about. Gary Trent Jr. would make plenty of sense as a target.
Heat should be all over Gary Trent Jr.
Trent has made his living as a perimeter shooter. Throughout his eight-year NBA career, he has buried 38.7 percent of his triples on 6.8 attempts per game. That included shooting 41.6 percent from deep in his first year with the Milwaukee Bucks, which was the second-best percentage of his entire NBA career to date. Miami would love a player like that.
No matter how much the Heat want to pair Adebayo and Antetokounmpo, there is no denying that the fit would be clunky. Neither player is a reliable perimeter shooter, and their mutual desire to attack the paint could cause problems. One way to lessen this issue would be to surround them with perimeter shooting, and a lethal floor spacer like Trent would help mightily in that regard.
Trent already has plenty of experience with Antetokounmpo from their last two seasons together, meaning they could pick up right where they left off.
Trent seems destined to leave the Bucks
While Trent hasn't made a decision on his upcoming player option, it feels almost certain that he will decline it. Despite being arguably the biggest steal of free agency in back-to-back offseasons, he was never as impactful as he could have been. A significant reason for that was that he never found a consistent role under Doc Rivers, constantly being yanked around.
With Rivers gone, perhaps Taylor Jenkins could offer Trent a clearer role, but with the Bucks likely to shift into youth mode, it would make more sense for the guard to head to a competitive environment. While plenty of people have doubts that Miami could be a contender after giving up what it would take to get Giannis, adding complementary pieces like Trent would be a proper first step.
Trent should be hungry to prove himself after two uneventful seasons in Milwaukee. A fresh start may be exactly what he needs to showcase that he can play at the highest level and that he was misused by Doc Rivers in Milwaukee.
Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.
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