When the Milwaukee Bucks agreed to sign Gary Trent Jr. to a four-year, $64 million deal in July, red flags went up all around the league’s office. Days later, reports emerged suggesting the NBA was looking into the signing, though details of the league’s probe were scarce.
The league apparently found enough that it decided to launch a full-on investigation, according to The Athletic. The focus of that investigation: whether the Bucks used the contract as a way to circumvent the NBA salary cap.
The league reportedly hired law firm Hecker Fink to perform that investigation.
That particular accusation should sound familiar, as the league just wrapped an investigation on the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard that looked into the exact same thing. While both teams were accused of the same violation, their methods for allegedly circumventing the salary cap differ.
In the Clippers’ case, the team was accused of using a team sponsor to funnel additional funds to Leonard as a way to get around NBA rules. Accusations surrounding the Bucks are far more straight forward.
The league is reportedly looking into whether the Bucks made handshake agreements with Trent to sign lesser deals the past two offseasons with the promise of Trent eventually receiving a much larger contract this offseason.
The issue stems from Trent’s massive pay increase this offseason. After making $2.6 million with the Bucks in 2024 and $3.7 million in 2025, Trent’s new deal will pay him an average of over $15 million the next four years.
That massive pay increase came after Trent experienced a down season, one in which he averaged just 8.1 points per game, his lowest scoring output since his rookie season.
When reached for comment by The Athletic, the NBA, Bucks and Trent’s agency — Klutch Sports — all declined comment. Both the Bucks and Klutch are reportedly working with the NBA as it performs its investigation, per The Athletic.
Should the NBA determine the Bucks purposefully engaged in salary-cap circumvention, the team could see a similar punishment to the Clippers. The NBA came down hard on Los Angeles, docking the team five future first-round picks, fining and suspending team owner Steve Ballmer and fining Leonard.
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