The NBA is still digging into how Gary Trent Jr. got $64 million, and Milwaukee should be nervous.
A league spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that the cap-circumvention investigation into Trent’s four-year, fully guaranteed contract remains ongoing, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. The spokesperson declined to say anything else.
Both the Bucks and Klutch Sports Group, which represents Trent, are cooperating.
The numbers do not add up
Trent averaged 8.1 points, 1.2 assists and 1.0 rebounds on 38.7% shooting last season. That production does not produce a $16 million annual salary on any open market anywhere.
The contract history is what raised eyebrows. Trent signed with Milwaukee for the veteran’s minimum in 2024, got a raise to $3.7 million in 2025 through Non-Bird rights, then jumped to four years and $64 million in 2026 via Early Bird rights.
The timing is the other flag. The agreement was not reached until July 11, after league-wide cap space and roster spots had dried up. Rival executives noticed that Trent waited until nobody else could bid, then signed for eight figures a year.
Milwaukee’s defense to other teams has been that it always viewed Trent as roughly a $15 million player. That is a hard sell given the shooting numbers.
The league hired an outside firm
The NBA retained Hecker Fink, a national investigations firm, to run the probe. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the league’s usual choice for this work, was busy with the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard.
That detail tells you how seriously the league is treating cap circumvention right now. It has two of these open at once and had to go hire a second law firm.
The precedents are terrifying
The Clippers were stripped of five first-round picks, fined $30 million and had multiple executives suspended, including owner Steve Ballmer for a full year, over no-show endorsement deals arranged for Leonard.
The older and closer comparison is Minnesota in 1999. The Timberwolves’ secret agreement with Joe Smith voided Smith’s contract and cost the franchise five first-round picks, two of which were later returned.
Vardon reports the Bucks could face similarly harsh punishment if Hecker Fink finds proof of circumvention.
No timeline, which is the worst part
Word first broke in July that the league was looking at the deal. Two months later there is no completion date, no findings and no indication of where this lands.
Milwaukee heads into a season with a cloud over its front office and a shooting guard whose contract the entire league assumes is dirty. Even if the Bucks are cleared, the reputational damage is already done.
Somebody in that organization decided a $64 million favor was worth the risk. The league is about to decide whether it was.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.