It’s been an interesting offseason in Milwaukee. In the span of a few months, they lost Giannis Antetokounmpo, traded for Caris LeVert, and set the stage for a rebuild that could take years to complete.
It’s their latest move, though, that’s causing an uproar in the NBA community. As reported on Saturday night, the Bucks have agreed to terms with Gary Trent Jr. on a new four-year, $64 million contract. The deal is fully guaranteed, and immediately makes him one of the team’s highest-paid players.
“Free agent guard Gary Trent Jr. has agreed to a four-year, $64 million deal to stay with the Milwaukee Bucks,” reported ESPN’s Shams Charania. “The Bucks and Trent’s reps worked through negotiations since the NBA Finals ended in mid-June while also sorting through sign-and-trade possibilities from interested teams over the last week. The sides moved toward completing a new deal together Saturday.”
Gary Trent Jr. is a solid role player, but it’s highly questionable if he’s worth $16 million per year. Despite averaging just 8.1 points, 1.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 0.5 steals per game on 38.7% shooting and 36.0% shooting from three last season, he’s now set to be paid more than much more productive role players like Tim Hardaway Jr., Anfernee Simons, and Rui Hachimura.
In truth, the contract is highly suspicious, and the theory is that the Bucks promised this deal to Trent for accepting short-term, below-market deals in the past. The accusation claims that the Bucks planned to pay Trent later if he took a pay cut to help them build a contender around Giannis. If true, it could be considered cap circumvention, since they manipulated his salary to avoid paying his full value at one time.
“Gary Trent getting 4/$64 after the year he just had is obvious circumvention and should be punished by the league,” wrote Nate Duncan on X. “This would fall under the provision that there is no possible explanation other than circumvention. If judging it purely on its merits, is 4/$64M for Gary Trent Jr. the most absurd deal in NBA history relative to the market if judging at the moment the deal was signed?”
Whether it’s actually cap circumvention or simply a grievous misjudgment, the Bucks did not do themselves any favors with this contract. Objectively, it’s a major overpay for someone with his production, but the Bucks don’t have much to lose right now. In the aftermath of Giannis’ departure, they are in rebuild mode anyway, and taking care of Trent might be their way of building up their rep with the players.
Regardless, unless Trent has a major breakout season, this decision will hurt the Bucks. Trent Jr. is easily one of the worst contracts in the league right now, and the only saving grace for Milwaukee is that they won’t be competitive anytime soon anyway. The biggest concern now is that the NBA rules them guilty of cap circumvention, which could result in penalties of fines or suspensions.
It’ll be up to the league to prove an agreement was made beforehand, but this is a matter they are taking seriously. If you have any doubts, just remember the ongoing investigation into the Clippers’ cap circumvention scandal, which is still ongoing nearly a year later.
