The Cleveland Cavaliers would be better off drafting a rookie than trading for Gary Trent Jr.

Gary Trent Jr. has had a few good years but the Cleveland Cavaliers are better off without him.

Gary Trent Jr. has started to show some talent for shooting threes in the NBA. That’s about it with the positives when we talk about Trent, however. Sure, he can shoot around 38% on the year with threes, but so can a lot of guys who are turnstiles on defense. Trent isn’t someone the Cleveland Cavaliers should be talking about in trades, and dang sure not with the Cavs’ 14th overall pick.

At nearly 24 years old, Trent is what he is. He’s an average league shooter who shoots almost as many attempts (11.6) as he does score points (13.5). That’s not a great stat to have when you’re being sold on your offensive abilities.

Even worse stats are his offensive BPM, where he’s regularly been a negative player. There are some guys that fans and “experts” get excited about because they talk themselves into guys. Trent is one of those guys that is getting a groundswell of interest simply because he’s average at a few things and that’s it.

Gary Trent Jr.’s production doesn’t match his cost

Guys like Trent are a dime a dozen and don’t provide much improvement to a team, at least not enough to justify their cost. Trent is getting paid $17 million to shoot splits of .414/.383/.853. Those are NBA caliber numbers, sure. They aren’t nearly $20 million per year figures, however. People will point to his 18.8 points per game in 2021-2022, and that’s fine. But points per game are a very overrated stat.

Let’s say the Cavaliers trade for him, as CavsNation suggested they do. They have Trent going to Cleveland in exchange for Caris LeVert and the 14th overall pick. Firstly, LeVert is a better all-around player, so there’s no reason to throw in the pick. Secondly, That point per game stat? It’s going to fall in Cleveland.

Trent was the third scorer in Toronto, behind Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam. He shot the ball 15.5 times per game. Only one player in Cleveland, Darius Garland, shot more times per game than Trent. Garland shot it 17.3.

So Trent won’t get as many shots as he did in Toronto on the basis that the Cavaliers pass the ball around far more than Toronto does.

He also won’t get as many shots in Cleveland because Garland, Collin Sexton, Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, Kevin Love, and Lauri Markkanen aren’t taking a back seat to Trent. Remember, Trent’s shooting splits are .414/.383/.853.

Of the six Cavaliers I mentioned above, all of them are better scoring options than Trent. The difference between Trent and the rest of the Cavaliers isn’t talent, but volume. Yes, Trent looks like a solid addition simply because he shot the ball more than anyone in Toronto, save for two players.

Garland, Sexton, Allen, and Mobley should not get fewer shots to accommodate Trent. Love has proven to be the best pure shooter on the team still and he deserves more shots than he had in 2021-2022. Then you factor in Markkanen’s hot second half, and how he was able to find his rhythm, and you’re going to what, replace his shots with Trent’s?

Who’s to say Trent can even fit in with the roster?

No, trading for Trent only makes sense if you look just at how much he scores, instead of how well he scores. There is a difference and guys like Trent be had for far less than what it would take to get him. Heck, there’s probably a rookie who can produce shooting splits on par with Trent in this very draft.

So why bother trading for him?