From the moment it was announced that the Milwaukee Bucks were handing Gary Trent Jr. a contract worth $64 million over four years, people around the league were calling for an investigation. Well, the NBA just granted them their wish. ESPN's Shams Charania reports that the NBA is "probing" the move that many are calling the most surprising signing of the summer.
Trent signing still makes little sense
This is far from shocking. When whispers first came out that the Milwaukee Bucks were looking to re-sign Trent, let alone at this financial figure, plenty of people assumed this deal had already been in the works for a year or so. Last summer, Trent surprisingly agreed to re-sign for the minimum. Many think there may have been a handshake agreement to get him to sign for that and cash out this summer.
That's truly the best way to justify handing a player who just had one of their worst seasons a sizeable raise. This past season, Trent averaged just 21.2 minutes per game, his fewest since his rookie year, and in that time, he put up a line of 8.1 points, 1.2 assists, and one rebound per game. That type of production doesn't exactly get you $64 million guaranteed in today's NBA—unless you are Trent.
Bucks could face punishment, extreme or not
If the NBA somehow finds wrongdoing, it could very well fine the Milwaukee Bucks or strip them of draft capital as punishment. Voiding Trent's contract entirely could even be on the table—though that would likely help the Bucks more than hurt them after the year Trent just had. Of course, they have to first find any sense of wrongdoing.
The Bucks can also tell the NBA that they weren't the only team that valued Trent at this number to justify the contract. During a recent appearance on the Shump Street with Iman Shumpert podcast, Charania said that there was another team trying to do a sign-and-trade for Trent at a similar number financially. That immediately takes some of the heat off Milwaukee for doing this deal.
Without a doubt, the Trent deal looks suspicious. After the year he just had, in addition to the Bucks already having a surplus of guards on the roster, it made little sense to re-sign him at such a cost. It will be fascinating to see if the NBA finds any legitimate wrongdoing here or if this was just an overpay Milwaukee made to keep a key role player in town.
Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.
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