Gary Trent Jr.'s tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks got off to a rocky start, to say the least.
Initially serving as the starting two-guard, Trent struggled mightily, leading to Doc Rivers offering him a change of scenery as a reserve. When Trent was initially signed, the hope was that he could provide both sharpshooting and scoring on the wing. Those factors made him a sizeable X-factor for this team, and his production in two key areas this month captures exactly why.
Gary Trent Jr. is helping right where the Milwaukee Bucks need him
By his production, one could not tell during the first two months of the season that Trent is one of the most lethal shooters across the globe. Even when wide-open, he struggled to knock down the shots. In December, he has had no such issue, shooting 12-of-26 (46.2 percent) on his "wide-open" triples, much improved from his 38.9 percent mark in October and 40.6 percent tally from November.
Trent has been a lethal sparkplug for the Milwaukee Bucks in December, and the red-hot shooting has helped the wing average 11.3 points per game this month. That's the highest mark he's registered in a month over the first portion of the season. He averaged 9.8 points in October and 7.6 in November. This type of scoring prowess is exactly what they envisioned when they signed him in free agency.
Trent has visibly looked more comfortable offensively since moving to the bench, and these two stats prove it. His ability to check in and immediately get into the flow of Milwaukee's offense by burying his triples has been a sizeable boost, and his teammates will continue urging him to let it fly. If he can hit them with even more regularity, Trent may have yet another gear.
With the offense clicking, the question now turns to Trent's defense and whether he can hold up on that side of things, one of the several objectives that makes him an X-factor. The wing is still playing to his strength of tallying steals - he has the second most takeaways on the team this month - but his one-on-one defense is still a work in progress, though he is showing promise in spurts.
If Gary Trent Jr. keeps scoring and shooting like this while getting into the swing of things defensively, his importance for this Milwaukee Bucks team will be off the charts.
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