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2022 Free Agents - Trent Forrest

Summary
After playing only slightly in '20-'21 as a rookie on a two-way contract, Forrest got more minutes in '21-'22, playing in 59 games and just under 700 minutes of non-garbage time, according to Cleaning the Glass. The Jazz signed Forrest to a standard NBA contract near the end of the season. 

Forrest has earned minutes because of his defense. At 6'4", he has solid size for a guard and can defend both guard positions. He plays hard, moves his feet well, and has enough length to bother shots. 

Coming out of Florida State in 2020, Forrest's biggest question was his jump shot, and nothing has changed in that regard. Not only is he a poor outside shooter at 19% from three, he is a reluctant shooter and often disrupts the flow of the offense by passing up open shots. He has some ability to hit floaters and short midrange shots, but struggles to finish at the rim. He's a negative on offense right now, and unless that changes it's hard to see Forrest becoming a reliable rotation player.

 
Cap Considerations
Forrest will be a restricted free agent with a $2 million cap hold and Qualifying Offer, and the Jazz will have his Early Bird rights. However, the Jazz may not tender him a QO, which would make him an unrestricted free agent. If the Jazz re-sign Forrest using the Early-Bird Exception, they could offer him a starting salary of up to 105% of the average salary this past season (roughly $10 million), which would be more than enough. 

Since Forrest will only have two years of service, he will be subject to the Gilbert Arenas provision. This means that any offer sheet he signs with a team besides Utah can have a starting maximum salary of $10.3 million, but the third and potentially fourth years of that contract can have a large jump (up to the max). His cap hit would then be the average salary over the life of the contract. If the Jazz match, they could choose for his cap hit to either be his actual salary per season or the average over the life of the contract, provided the average fits within the Early Bird Exception or cap space. 

I do not expect this to come into play for Forrest, as I think any offers for him would fit within the full Non-Taxpayer MLE over the length of the contract, and could also be had with offers using the Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, or Bi-Annual Exception. Most likely though, Forrest will be an unrestricted free agent with only minimum offers, and may not even get fully-guaranteed offers.

Potential Teams: Jazz, Hawks, Hornets, Raptors, Trailblazers

Predicted Contract: 1-year, $1.8 million with the Jazz

Actual Contract: 1-year, Two-way contract with the Hawks

Forrest didn't get a standard contract and ended up signing a two-way contract with Atlanta, which was one of the top teams I identified for him considering their need for backcourt defense. 

Last updated: 8/10/2022

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