Calling Gary Trent Jr.’s new contract “suspicious” is an understatement. Talking to team executives (and pretty much everyone else) at Las Vegas Summer League, it was fairly obvious what had led to Gary Trent Jr.’s four-year, $64 million contract with Milwaukee: This was pre-arranged. The 27-year-old wing played on a minimum-salary contract for two years, and once the Bucks had his Early Bird Rights, they “made him whole” with an unexpectedly large new contract. This was the payoff.
Except that would violate the CBA and be salary cap circumvention, and the NBA is now looking into the contract, a league source confirmed to NBC Sports.
Trent Jr. had played on a three-year, $52 million contract from 2021 to the summer of 2024, when he suddenly agreed to join Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee and play for the minimum. Last season, he was on another minimum contract and regressed on the court under Doc Rivers, averaging 8.1 points per game on 38.7% shooting.
Then, suddenly, he gets handed a full mid-level exception contract starting at $15 million a season, fully guaranteed for four years? This contract became the talk of the Las Vegas Summer League the second it was announced.
In breaking the news of the deal, ESPN’s Shams Charania said another team had inquired about a sign-and-trade for roughly the same number financially, and if true, the Bucks could argue they were just paying the market rate. However, there are no public details about that other team or their alleged offer.
Would another NBA team file a complaint about this contract, forcing the league to formally investigate? For one, this kind of under-the-table agreement is not uncommon in the NBA, it’s usually just not so blatant. There will be a desire by some front offices to just ignore this so they don’t raise any red flags. Second, as multiple people pointed out to NBC Sports, the worst punishment for Milwaukee would be to carry what is a bad contract.
It’s going to be something to monitor over the coming weeks. The Bucks are stacked at that on the wing, with Tyler Herro, Caris LeVert, Jamie Jaquiez Jr. and just drafted Brayden Burries, who has looked pretty good at Summer League, and now Trent Jr.
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