Raptors retain right to match offers to Gary Trent. Earl Watson poised to join coaching staff - Toronto Star

The Raptors took care of some bookwork Monday, extending qualifying offers to Gary Trent Jr. and, in keeping with a longstanding tradition, Nando de Colo.

The move with Trent means the Raptors will have the right to match any offer the 22-year-old guard gets as a restricted free agent starting next week.

De Colo, playing for France at the Tokyo Olympics, gets his annual qualifying offer to remain a Raptors asset — perhaps for inclusion in some future transaction. It’s a virtual certainty he won’t return to the NBA, but having his rights sewn up gives Toronto some flexibility. De Colo played 21 games for the Raptors in the 2013-14 season.

Trent, obtained in March for Norm Powell, will carry a salary-cap hold of about $4.7 million (U.S.) under his qualifying offer — a threshold he reached after starting 38 games last season, including 15 of 17 with Toronto. He averaged 16.2 points and 3.6 assists per game with the Raptors, while shooting 35 per cent from three-point range on an average of 7.3 attempts.

According to published reports, the Raptors are also poised to add Earl Watson, a long-time NBA assistant and former head coach of the Phoenix Suns, to Nick Nurse’s staff.

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Raptors retain right to match offers to Gary Trent. Earl Watson poised to join coaching staff - Toronto Star
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