Gary Trent Jr.'s new $64 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks is officially under NBA investigation for possible salary cap circumvention, a bombshell dropped immediately after the team announced the signing. NBA insider Shams Charania confirmed it straight up: "The NBA is probing the signed $64 million free-agent deal for Gary Trent Jr. with the Milwaukee Bucks, per a league spokesperson." You cannot make this stuff up. Marc Stein even reiterated the news, and yeah, after everything that's happened this offseason, this is the last thing the Bucks needed.
The League Is Watching, And For Good Reason
Let's be real: this deal just looked way too lucrative from the moment it was whispered, and the league is clearly in agreement. Trent played the past two seasons on a sub-$4 million salary, and his numbers took a serious dive in 2025-26. That year, his play was arguably the worst of his entire career. He averaged career lows across the board, outside of his rookie season when he played just 15 games. We're talking 8.1 points, 1.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 0.5 steals, all on brutal .387/.360/.769 splits. He started the first 12 games of the season, then found himself glued to the bench for most of it. This is a far cry from the Trent Jr. who absolutely exploded in the 2025 playoffs against the Indiana Pacers in their first-round series. That guy averaged 18.8 PPG, 2.2 RPG, and a league-leading 2.6 SPG, shooting a ridiculous 52% from the field and 50% from deep on 8.8 attempts per game. What happened to that player? The drastic statistical dip from that playoff run to the following regular season is a massive red flag, and it's no wonder the NBA is looking into how a player on a sub-$4 million salary, who then dipped statistically, suddenly lands a fully guaranteed $64 million contract.So Many Guards, So Little Sense
The specifics of the deal, reported by Jake Fischer, make it even wilder: $15.2 million for 2026-27, jumping to $16.4 million for 2027-28 and 2028-29, then back down to $16 million in Year 4. This is a lot of cash for a guy who, frankly, doesn't even have a clear path to playing time. After the Giannis trade and the NBA Draft, the Bucks are absolutely loaded at the guard positions. Ryan Rollins, Kevin Porter Jr., and AJ Green were already ahead of Trent in the rotation. Now you throw in new guys like Tyler Herro, Brayden Burries, and Kasparas Jakučionis, and Trent doesn't figure to even sniff the hardwood. And we haven't even mentioned the two-way guys. Cormac Ryan showed out huge down the stretch last season, and Kam Jones just had himself a solid Summer League. Seriously, there is zero on-court justification to keep Trent, especially at that price and on a deal of that length. It just does not compute. Now, the Bucks have this massive cloud lingering over their heads for the summer, all because of a deal that made absolutely no sense from the jump. This NBA probe is gonna dictate everything moving forward. What a mess, right? You gotta wonder how this plays out and what it means for the rest of their offseason moves.This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.