Has a player ever signed a deal worth north of $60 million and then been out of the rotation the very next season? That's exactly what happened to Milwaukee Bucks guard Gary Trent Jr. Per NBA insider Jake Fischer (subscription required), rival teams had been wondering why Trent hadn't been playing lately if the Bucks thought he was worth his new deal. He just showed them why with a poor outing.
Trent squanders his big break
With all of the constant rotation changes he's made nightly, it was only a matter of time before Taylor Jenkins called on Trent. As the Milwaukee Bucks visited the Orlando Magic, that's exactly what went down, with the guard getting some early action. This was Trent's opportunity to quiet the noise about his contract extension and prove he belongs in the rotation. Except that didn't happen.
In 16 minutes, he finished with a single point, having missed all four of his shots but managed to sink one free throw in three tries. Trent was a -8 for the game, tied for the worst mark on the team. Simply put, when he was on the floor, things were ugly. It shouldn't be a mystery to anyone why the guard was glued to the bench for the first dozen games of the season.
Now, in his defense, this was Trent's first legitimate action in a long time. For most of the season, he's been a mop-up-duty player, so it's not like he's been in a groove. All of the talk about his contract may certainly be weighing on him as well. Maybe he deserves some slack for not playing well right off the bat. If this continues, though, he certainly does not deserve that same leeway.
Jenkins' next move will be telling
The question now is what Jenkins does in the next game. Does he take Trent out of the rotation once again? Does he throw a curveball and throw him out there with the starters? After randomly seeing Ousmane Dieng leap into the starting five despite Nate Ament playing well in his debut, it feels like the Milwaukee Bucks might try anything at this point.
There is still a good player somewhere in there. There has to be. Maybe he just needs to see one or two triples go down. At this rate, anything would help. The question at hand is whether this was a one-time deal, or if Jenkins will keep Trent in the plans to try to unearth him. It wouldn't be shocking if he looked at someone else, such as AJ Green or Kasparas Jakucionis. Right now, no one is safe.
Despite earning nearly as many minutes in one game as he had all season up to that point, Gary Trent Jr. failed to capitalize.
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