Gary Trent headed to the NBA
- Thread starter Quavarius
- Start date
I wish Trent well and hope to see him play at the next level. He certainly has the talent but it may take him a bit to Make any sort of impact. I would have suggested for him to stay at Duke for at least another year (as I do for almost all undergrades - Bagley the obvious exception as he was ready to play in NBA this year!) but the money and dreams are too much and do make sense.
I wonder if another stellar recruiting class coming in (remarkable the talent arriving in Durham next year) which might limit an upper class man’s exposure enters into their decision. It could be a down side of the one and dones - causing some to go early, others to transfer. It certainly has effected some of the Kentucky players in the past.
Good luck to Gary. As much as I’m a rival it was a pleasure watching him develop.
I wonder if another stellar recruiting class coming in (remarkable the talent arriving in Durham next year) which might limit an upper class man’s exposure enters into their decision. It could be a down side of the one and dones - causing some to go early, others to transfer. It certainly has effected some of the Kentucky players in the past.
Good luck to Gary. As much as I’m a rival it was a pleasure watching him develop.
Well we expected it and I wish him much success and many blessings. Thanks for the fun Gary, but I still feel like this losing all these guys....
I agree, both (especially Duval) have been getting hammered on places like Facebook. It's ridiculous. I don't think Gary is ready, but hey, he's the one with money on the table. Hope he has success and a long nba career!
I hate to see him go, but this was expected. I honestly don’t know how much better Gary can/will get. He’s a shooter. In my eyes, he’s a tier down from a Luke Kennard, because he doesn’t have the ball handling skills.
He will be fine in the NBA.. but will likely be a career role-player off the bench.. I think, at best, he can be Wayne Ellington.. and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
He will be fine in the NBA.. but will likely be a career role-player off the bench.. I think, at best, he can be Wayne Ellington.. and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
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Half of the NBA is going to be former Duke players in a few years if we keep up this rate.
Me too. I read an article on DBR I believe it was talking about how valuable he would be to the team and that he is basically a must get at this point. I’m hoping Duke can get him more so than anyone else. I think Cremo should be Duke’s main focus right now!
Of all the freshman i thought he would stay if anyone did. His size would have been good to use inside more, like Nova uses Brunson to post up smaller guards. He had a good mid range game and could shoot FT's but didnt seem to use that part of his game much, preferring to shoot 3's. I think if he came back he would have improved a lot and a lock for a high draft pick. But in this day and age, no patience to learn just the lure of the dollar so i wish him well.
Isn’t it fun to replace all five starters? I love the OAD era. So good for college basketball.
That's worked out well for us these past two seasons, amirite?The irony is we open next season as Title Favorites
It was definitely rude, but it’s not like Gary is going to read it anyway.
And I think Gary would be the first to tell you he’s not ready. Trust me, most of the top picks aren’t even ready for what’s ahead.
Gary is going to make millions and millions of dollars the next 15 years. Whether that is in the NBA, G-League or Bosnia, it doesn’t matter. You’re mad for selfish reasons. That’s it. You could not care less about Gary and his goals. And that’s ok....it really is, but being mad and dismissive about it looks worse on you than it does him.
Obviously. I was just saying we probably officially hear from him Monday or Tuesday.
We did the past two years and that didn’t turn out too well.The irony is we open next season as Title Favorites
No one here has an obligation to be happy for a one-year rental, especially one who missed open shot after open shot in the S16 and E8 games.
I think the team would have been better off if Trent had never come to Duke and a couple of the guys who never got off the bench (or in Tucker's case, transferred) got valuable minutes so that they could add a lot to this coming year's team.
There seems to be a serious lack of awareness on this board and with the coaching staff about opportunity costs. Not all of us have 1-year time horizons.
Never said there was any kind of obligation for fans. I just don’t think being a dick is appropriate, either.
Duke definitely wouldn’t have been better without him. You can tell yourself that, though. And Tucker didn’t leave because of playing time. As a grad of Duke, check with one your connections on that.
Lastly, I just don’t think everyone constantly whines and moans. Because we don’t, doesn’t mean we’re always happy with decisions.
You really shouldn't hold back. If you have an opinion, spit it out please.
No.. I'm not mad at him I'm mad at the system. It's ridiculous and needs to change. They don't need to ever even come here, it's not fair to Duke or to them.
I would argue Giles decision is better for him financially than anyone going pro but Bagley. He stays and sets out a year at Duke like he’s doing at the Kings and then what? He’d be very lucky to get drafted so he’s in his 3rd year at Duke. On the other hand, he is making millions as a pro while he gets stronger in preparation for next season at Sacramento.
How is that a dumb move for Giles??
Agree it's the NBA - they've made being even a 2nd round pick a very attractive option that few of us would turn down, including myself.
But I think the staff should do a better job of screening players. Someone one dimensional like Trent, who performs on the court like a mid-to-late 2nd-round pick, the value really comes in their 2nd and 3rd years. If we know we're not going to get that because the player makes it clear they're bolting regardless, perhaps we go after guys who aren't going to be as good in year 1 but who we know will add much more value as they mature. And who, you know, actually want to be student athletes at Duke.
I very much believe the culture of the program has changed these last few years, to the point where even most Duke fans - who a couple of years ago would laugh at UK guys leaving w/o a 1st-round guarantee - are now justifying recruiting guys like Duval and Trent who are going pro no matter what. And justifying going on the grad rental market. Etc. Very mercenary.
Ha, I don't have "connections." But here in Austin I do meet up with Duke / Fuqua alums all the time. Sample size of 10, most folks don't like the direction of the program.
I am not an expert but over the past decade or so the developmental league in the NBA seems superior and overseas leagues are no longer a career ender for players aspiring to play/return to the NBA
In the case of Trent, I think people should only be truly disappointed if they preferred O'Connell to start in his place this past season and/or there was another recruit [Tucker?] that would have came and still remained for next season
I don’t get the “he is a Duke guy” when obviously they use us to play into the nba? That’s not a “Duke” guy to me. JMHO
For Bags, Duval, and Trent to get their attention. He'll announce early week from what I understand.
It’s pretty obvious why Coach K is doing this. For years Duke was known as a good college program but they didn’t develop you for the pros. So now Coach has focused on making Duke a pro factory. He has accomplished everything possible in college basketball. Now he’s trying to add to his legacy as a coach that produces a lot of pro players that excel on the pro level.
As much respect as I have for K. He is not developing these players in one year. Nobody is. He is simply landing recruits that come into college already projected to be in the NBA.
One year in college is not going to make a big difference in how a player excels in the pros.
To your first point, isn't that theory one that we have debunked and argued against for so many years? Now we are conceding that Duke didn't produce pros before in order to give K credit that he doesn't even need.
He’s more of a ‘Duke’ guy than 99% of this board will ever be.
We only have a few high level pro players. Only 6 have made the All-Star team in the NBA. We mostly have rotation players. I don’t believe college coaches develop players to be good pros anyway. Some people just have it and some don’t. The point is not many from Duke has been stars so the perception is that Duke doesn’t produce pros. This is how young kids are thinking. Now that Duke is putting out 3 and 4 players a year PLUS having every game on national tv, it makes the team more attractive. Coach is going headfirst into this strategy so Duke can be known as a pro factory like Kentucky
Saying bye? I think I already got the dad treatment from DJ don't need it from you too
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