There's been plenty of speculation regarding how much money Milwaukee Bucks wing Gary Trent Jr. could command in NBA Free Agency. During a recent Reddit AMA, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Jim Owczarski offered a potential price range for Trent, and if it comes true, it could be a huge lift to give the franchise more flexibility while retaining him.
"I know GTJ is looking for the bag, and my understanding is he could get between $8-10M this summer."
Keeping Trent at this price would be a win for the Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks will have access to a non-taxpayer mid-level exception worth about $14 million this summer. They can go a number of routes with it, but Trent will likely be the focus. If the two guard asked for the entire thing, he'd be more than justified in doing so after playing all of last season at a significant discount and performing rather well despite an ever-changing role.
The beauty of it, though, is that if Trent wants to take a discount, the Bucks would have some money left over to further beef up the roster. If Trent were to take somewhere between $8 and $10 million, as
Owczarski pitches, perhaps the Milwaukee Bucks could use the rest to retain Kevin Porter Jr. or add an external free agent to plug a roster hole. They need as much financial flexibility as they can get.
Again, the guard took an incredibly team-friendly discount to join the Bucks last offseason, and he could possibly do so again this summer by not taking the full midlevel. He'd still be earning a quality raise compared to the minimum deal he signed last summer. No matter how they do it, retaining Trent should be the top free agency priority for the Milwaukee Bucks.
He was one of Milwaukee's best players in the entire NBA Playoffs. During Milwaukee's five contests against the Indiana Pacers, Trent averaged 18.8 points and 2.6 steals while shooting 50 percent from deep on 8.8 attempts per game. Sure, it was a small sample size, but he guard looked like a franchise building block. At 26, he's still young, and he's worth the money.
Other teams will certainly do their part to try to lure Gary Trent Jr. away from Milwaukee by throwing lofty offers his way. However, with the midlevel and the element of familiarity, one would think there is a good shot that the Milwaukee Bucks can make a strong pitch to Trent.
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