Peachtree Hoops: 2022-23 Player Season Review: Trent Forrest

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Trent Forrest has come full circle with current Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder. After a four-year career under Leonard Hamilton with the FSU Seminoles basketball team, Forrest went undrafted in the 2020 NBA Draft. Still, the Utah Jazz saw enough in the pesky defender to ink him to a two-way contract for the 2020-21 season.

After a season partially spent with their G League affiliate the Salt Lake City Stars, Forrest again signed another two-way contract with the Utah Jazz for the 2021-22 season. His contract was converted to a standard NBA contract late in that season — the final season of Quin Snyder’s eight year stint as the head coach of the franchise.

With Atlanta needing point guard depth behind Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, and Aaron Holiday, Forrest joined the Hawks as a two-way player in August of 2022. It just so happened that his former coach, Quin Snyder, would take over as the head coach of the Hawks in February 2023 in an unlikely reunion.

Ultimately, Forrest saw little playing time with the Hawks this season. He averaged 12 minutes a game across 23 appearances this season, generally only when the Hawks had major injury issues. Forrest profiled as a superb defender and capable ball handler when call upon, however, averaging 2.3 points, 1.7 assists, and 1.6 rebounds per game in those 12 minutes per contest.

Forrest’s best assets are his smarts and attentive on and off-ball defense. He racks up a high rate of deflections and steals and can credibly guard players bigger than his 6’4” listed height. With three seasons of professional basketball behind him, he has shown he the ability to run offenses for stretches with his leadership and knowledge of the NBA playbook.

Still, his reputation as a passive scoring guard and poor floor stretcher may find him without an NBA opportunity going into 2023-24. The Hawks have no contractual obligation to him past this season, and there’s no guarantee he’ll find his way onto Atlanta’s — or really anyone’s — team going forward. But Forrest will undoubtedly remain on the radar of teams looking for a deep point guard options heading into next season.

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