NBA Seriously Investigating Bucks' Sketchy Contract With Gary Trent Jr.
The NBA is looking into a potential cap-circumvention violation by the Milwaukee Bucks and shooting guard Gary Trent Jr., who inked a four-year, $64 million guaranteed contract in July that raised the league’s suspicions.If league investigators find proof that the Bucks and Trent are guilty of what the Clippers and Leonard were guilty of, the punishment could be equally severe, if not worse.
The Bucks were strapped for cap room the previous two years and couldn't afford a big-money free agent deal of at least a $15M AAV that Trent could have commanded. He wound up surprisingly signing a league minimum contract with Milwaukee in 2024, and another low-salaried deal in 2025. Both of those agreements included player options, which Trent declined.
Now, this summer, what really raised some eyebrows was that Trent, coming off his worst season in eight years, all of a sudden landed himself a big $64M deal with the Bucks. He averaged just 8.1 points on 39% shooting last season.
It all raised suspicions of a wink-wink deal going on behind the scenes to get him his money when they could afford it.
The Bucks really got themselves into hot water with the timing of their announcement of Trent's signing 10 days into free agency, according to executives that Vardon spoke with.
"Had the agreement with Trent come in the first few hours or even days of NBA free agency, according to rival league executives granted anonymity to discuss a player’s contract not with their team, the reaction in league circles would have been collective eye rolls and mockery, given Trent’s subpar 2025-26 performance. But leaking news of the agreement on July 11, nearly two weeks into NBA free agency, when most teams had used most of their available cap space, indicates the Bucks paid Trent above his market value, those rival executives said."