‘Knows what it takes to win’

Truth be told, Trevon Scott could take the summer off.

If history is at all telling, he’ll have offers to sign a contract with an NBA affiliate in the G League at some point this summer. He also has nothing to prove in the Canadian Elite Basketball League, where he’s been a steady presence wherever he’s gone.

Despite all that, the 6-8 forward chose to sign a deal to return to the Winnipeg Sea Bears last weekend, reuniting him with the organization for the second straight summer.

“I feel like we could do a lot for each other. I can help win games and bring a championship to Winnipeg, and they can just continue to put me in a position to win,” Scott said after Tuesday’s practice at the Sport for Life Centre. “Me being able to showcase my skills and my maturity and what I’m able to do on the basketball court, it’s a win-win situation for me, and for the Sea Bears.”

Scott captivated Sea Bears fans instantly in a short stint with the club last season when he averaged 13 points across 11 contests. His run was so impressive that head coach and general manager Mike Raimbault made him one of eight players whose rights were protected by the club.

The Townsend, Ga., product returns with renewed confidence in his game.

After appearing in 33 games with the Long Island Nets in the G League, Scott signed a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets and appeared in six contests — starting four of them — to close the NBA regular season.

“It just showed me that I belong. I know I belong, I’m not crazy,” said Scott, who averaged eight points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists with the Nets.

It was Scott’s second stint in the NBA. He previously played in two games with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2021, though he was on the court for a little more than 11 minutes combined. Now 29 years old, he naturally began to question whether he would ever play at the highest level again.

“For sure, because you have other people who will tell you that, ‘You should do this, you should do that,’ and nobody was in my shoes. So, those doubts kind of crept in here and there, but I’m super faithful in my belief in God, and the conversations me and him have, and I’m just a super confident individual,” he said.

“I bet on myself every time, and I win every time. I knew it was going to happen; it was just a matter of when.”

Scott last played on May 17 with the Calgary Surge, so he’s not far-removed from game action. He said that the first week of practice will be critical to earning the respect of his new teammates, though he’s already familiar with several players.

“Just the ultimate team player,” said Nathan Bilamu, who shared the court with Scott in a Sea Bears uniform last summer. “He does all the small things — rebound, hit aheads, make the open three, make the extra pass — so he’s just a great teammate overall, and I’m excited to play with him for another year.”

The addition of Scott comes as the Sea Bears are in the midst of their first losing streak of the season. His ability to rebound will be especially coveted by a team that has struggled to clean up the glass early on.

The Sea Bears are last in total rebounds (33) and defensive rebounds (23) per game this season. Losing the battle on the glass has been a common thread in each of their losses this season, which have all come away from home.

Scott’s 7.9 rebounds per game last summer ranked second on the Sea Bears. And Raimbault is confident Scott can help shore up that area.

“It’s great that we have a relationship, and we kind of know what to expect from him,” said Raimbault. “I think if you look at some of the games where we’ve struggled, at times there’s a little bit of a lack of toughness and grit and ability to rebound the ball and finish out some possessions, and that’s something that he does innately.”

Kevin Cross Jr., however, was released to create room for Scott. The Sea Bears are permitted to carry just six imports on the active roster, and five on the road.

With Raimbault confirming that Scott will draw into the lineup immediately, that likely leaves one of Davion Warren or Armani Chaney back home for the rest of the road trip.

“He’s always been really, really professional. He did a great job last summer, coming in midway through the season under similar circumstances to now. He’s been the first guy in the gym the last two days. He’s been asking great questions. You could already see, like, his energy and intensity have an infectious response from the rest of the group,” Raimbault said.

“He’s a mature guy. He’s a guy that’s been through a lot, and he knows what it takes to win.”

Although Winnipeg has dropped consecutive games to begin their season-long four-game road trip — first against the Brampton Honey Badgers and then against the Saskatoon Mamba — there is no panic from Raimbault or the players.

Nor should there be. At 3-3, they are playing a strong brand of basketball, but are looking for a more complete effort to steal games away from home.

The Sea Bears will play the last pair on the road in Ottawa against the BlackJacks (3-3) on Thursday (6:30 p.m. CT), and in Montreal against the Alliance (2-4) on Friday (6:30 p.m. CT).

“I think our sort of mantra is that we’re just a handful of possessions away from potentially being undefeated, but still the focus is to continue to try to get better,” Raimbault said.

“I think the game will continue to teach us some of the same lessons until we address them. We got to be a little bit tougher when we’re out on the road — we know it’s not easy — and in some ways we’re fortunate we get a chance to go back out and tackle some more adversity as a group.”

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