Scouting Report: Trenton Hassell

Trenton Hassell

Name: Trenton Hassell

Position: G/F

Height: 6’5″

Weight: 233

Birth Date: March 4, 1979 (age 30)

Birth Place: Clarksville, Tennessee

Number: 44

College: Austin Peay

Drafted: 2001, 2nd round, 30th overall by Chicago

Experience: 8 seasons

Contract: $4,350,000 million in 2009-10

On offense:

Trenton’s offensive game has always been pretty limited, and last year he continued that trend.  With a weak handle and no real quickness to speak of, Hassell was pretty much relegated to a spot-up shooter role (75% of his total shots are jumpers).   Trenton Hassell wasn’t a three point shooter (only 8 attempted).  Let’s take a look at his shot chart:

trenton-hotspots

Trenton got more shots over on the left baseline, but he was a tad more effective on the right baseline.  Like I said earlier, the extent of his offense is basically catch and shoot or catch and pump fake then drive.  Trenton’s offense was heavily reliant on his teammates, as 82% of his jumpers were assisted on.  Basically, whenever either Devin or Vince drove, Hassell’s man was the one who would leave to help.  That led to jumpers for Trenton.  Going into the upcoming year, I expect this to be the same role for Trenton if/when he is on the court.

On defense:

Trenton Hassell made his name in the league as a defensive specialist.  Trenton can cover both the 2 or the 3 spot, and he is very physical on the ball.  While most defensive specialists (Bruce Bowen/Raja Bell) were real good at defending guys off the ball, Trenton did his best work while his man was handling the ball.  Trenton Hassell has always done a great job of cutting off penetration and forcing his man into either a tough pass/shot.  A lot of Nets fans have been wondering if Trenton can still play tough defense at the age of 30.  Well, let’s have Terrence Williams answer that question:

“I’m impressed with (him), definitely,” Williams said. “There was one time he was guarding me, and I just passed the ball ’cause I was getting tired of him guarding me.”

Miscellaneous:

Trenton had a Early Termination Option (which is essentially just a player option) this past offseason that he refused to accept, mainly because he knew he wouldn’t get 4+ million anywhere else.   Nothing against Trenton (he seems to be a good guy and a good teammate), but this was a real bad contract.  Unlike the Najera contract though, there was nothing the Nets could do about it as the contract was offered by the T-Wolves.  After a trade to Dallas, Trenton’s contract was included in the Devin Harris trade, and it was reported (or at least I heard it somewhere – it was a while ago) that for the trade to work, the Nets had to take on Hassell’s contract.  To get Devin this was a price that the Nets were willing to pay (and I totally agree with that decision)

Comments:

Despite the fact that Trenton Hassell is the Nets’ best defender and the fact that Lawrence Frank loves defensive minded players, there is a chance Trenton may spend most/all of the season inactive.  There is just a numbers game here, and there is no way Lawrence Frank can justify playing him over Terrence Williams, Keyon Dooling, Devin Harris, Bobby Simmons, CDR, and Courtney Lee.  There is no possible way.  So unless there is a trade or some injuries, expect Trenton to be on the bench wearing a suit.

Video:

During Trenton’s rookie year in Chicago Bill Wennington had a little thing where he played Bulls players in a game of P-I-G.  Trenton just had to get in on the fun…

More On Hassell:

  1. NBA.com
  2. ESPN.com
  3. Draft Express
  4. Basketball-Reference
  5. 82games.com
  6. NetsAreScorching