The NBA is launching an investigation into the circumstances behind one of the most controversial free agent signings of the summer so far.
The league is trying to determine whether the Milwaukee Bucks’ contract with Gary Trent Jr. is designed to circumvent the salary cap, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The Bucks gave Trent a 4-year, $64 million deal even though he is coming off a poor statistical season.
The NBA is probing the signed $64 million free-agent deal for Gary Trent Jr. with the Milwaukee Bucks, per a league spokesperson. https://t.co/EIkahRn6Tq
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 16, 2026
There has been suspicion that the Bucks’ contract with Trent is compensation for two low-value contracts he had accepted previously. Trent signed for the league minimum in 2024, then re-signed a year later for $3.7 million annually. That second contract seemed below market value, but it established Trent’s Bird rights, meaning the Bucks could go over the cap to re-sign him this offseason. Essentially, the NBA is looking into whether Trent agreed to two below-market contracts with a promise from the Bucks that he would be taken care of once league rules allowed it.
Trent shot 41.6 percent from three in his first season with Milwaukee, but averaged just 8.1 points per game while shooting 36 percent from three last season. Those are not the kind of numbers that usually get players a significant raise.
This would be very similar to what the Minnesota Timberwolves did with Joe Smith in 1999. In that instance, the league came down hard on Minnesota by voiding Smith’s contract and docking the Timberwolves multiple first-round draft picks.
