The NBA has opened an investigation into how the Milwaukee Bucks went about signing Gary Trent Jr., a deal that was formally announced Thursday.
A league spokesperson confirmed that “the NBA is continuing to look into it.” ESPN was first to report that the league is examining whether the Bucks violated salary cap rules when completing the signing.
While the Bucks did not reveal the financial terms of the agreement at the time of the announcement, ESPN has reported that Trent landed a four-year contract worth $64 million — a substantial deal despite a down year statistically.
In the 2025-26 season, Trent averaged 8.1 points and 21.2 minutes per game with Milwaukee — his lowest marks in both categories since his rookie year back in 2018-19.
The 6-foot-4 guard originally joined the Bucks in 2024 by accepting a veteran minimum contract, coming off a season with the Toronto Raptors in which he had averaged 13.7 points per game and connected on 39.3% of his three-point attempts.
He came back to Milwaukee the following year after putting up 11.1 points per game and shooting 41.6% from beyond the arc during the 2024-25 season. He finished that year on a high note, scoring more than 30 points in two of the Bucks’ five playoff games before the team was eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the first round.
His contract from last year included a $3.9 million player option for the 2026-27 season, which Trent chose not to exercise before agreeing to the new deal.
The heart of the NBA’s investigation is whether there was an informal agreement in place — that Trent would accept below-market pay for two consecutive seasons with the understanding that he would be compensated handsomely down the road.
The probe into the Bucks comes as the NBA is simultaneously investigating the Los Angeles Clippers over a separate but unrelated salary cap matter. That case involves a $28 million endorsement deal between seven-time all-NBA forward Kawhi Leonard and a now-bankrupt California-based sustainability services company called Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC. The ongoing investigation has placed the Clippers’ trade of Leonard to the Toronto Raptors on hold.
