3 free agents slipping through the cracks that Nuggets should pursue
By Ben Handler
No. 1) - Gary Trent Jr.
Trent would be the sharpshooter the Nuggets have been seeking for several years. The Raptors are leaning into youth and a rebuild and GTJ no longer fits their timeline so it doesn’t look like they’ll be bringing him back. The market has been cool for shooting guards, but the Nuggets just saw theirs sign with the Magic.
Trent could slot right into the starting lineup and suddenly between Jamal Murray, Trent, and Michael Porter Jr. the Nuggets would have some pretty elite three-point shooting. Trent can be a high-volume shooter from distance and he doesn’t need a lot of space to get his shot off.
He’s got some ability off the bounce too and he can make plays as a secondary guy or off weakside actions. He can also pump fake and attack a closeout so he’d be a real spacing threat in the corner. His dynamic scoring and shooting ability would bring the Nuggets’ starting lineup to another level offensively.
He’s not nearly the defensive player that Caldwell-Pope is, and he’s a bit undersized to guard wings, but he can fight and hold his own out there. The team could still choose to have Christian Braun start and bring Trent off the bench as a super 6th man to add some serious punch to the second unit.