The Risks to the Bucks in Gary Trent Jr. Investigation

When NBA commissioner Adam Silver laid down the hammer on the Los Angeles Clippers, everyone saw how serious the consequences were and what it could possibly mean for the Milwaukee Bucks.

On Sept. 2, the NBA found the Clippers violated the league's salary cap rules after a yearlong investigation that dealt with Kawhi Leonard's contract. As a result the NBA stripped the franchise of 5 first-round picks, a $30 million fine to owner Steve Ballmer and suspensions for Ballmer, Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker.

BREAKING: The NBA has ruled on the Los Angeles Clippers in for salary cap circumvention investigations on Kawhi Leonard after yearlong probe -- stripping the franchise of 5 first-round picks, issuing a $30 million fine to owner Steve Ballmer and suspensions for Ballmer, Lawrence… pic.twitter.com/JCV5bI88BE
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 2, 2026

Leonard was fined $700,000, but will not face any suspensions or voids in his contract. He'll return to his former team with the Toronto Raptors to start the 2026-27 season after Los Angeles and Toronto agreed trading Leonard in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, one first-round pick swap and two second-rounders.

While Leonard's future seems to be fine after the investigation, the Clippers future will be an uphill battle from here on out as they'll be without their first-round picks from 2029 through 2033.

The investigation has put a rebuilding team in a deeper hole with no future draft capital and a similar punishment for the Bucks could also be approaching with their ongoing investigation regarding Gary Trent Jr. and his contract situation.

On July 11, it was reported that Milwaukee and Trent agreed to a to a fully guaranteed four-year, $64 million contract. The overpaid contract mind-boggled many people after Trent averaged 8.1 points per game while shooting 38.7% from the field.

The contract was even more confusing after Trent signed a one-year deal for the veteran minimum in 2024, then a two-year, $7.58 million deal in 2025. Only a few days later, ESPN's Shams Charania tweeted that the NBA would investigate his deal with the Bucks.

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

Joe Vardon of The Athletic published an article about the NBA continuing its investigation on Trent and the Bucks, and how it will compare to the Clippers situation with Leonard. Vardon mentioned that that two teams situations are different because Los Angeles violated the cap by using outside employment contracts that was worth millions of dollars and paid him extra benefits beyond his basketball salary.

Another reason why the situations were different was because the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast made the investigation public compared to the Bucks -- the latter investigation has flown under the radar. Vardon also stated that if league investigators find proof of a potential cap-circumvention violated by Milwaukee, then there's a chance that the Bucks could face similar or even more severe repercussions, as compared to what the Clippers did.

"If league investigators find proof that the Bucks and Trent are guilty of what the Clippers and Leonard were guilty of, the punishment could be equally severe, if not worse," Vardon said. "The details that caught the NBA’s attention regarding Trent’s deal are this: Trent, 27, had signed two prior contracts for much less money with Milwaukee amid the previous two summers of 2024 and 2025 (including for the league minimum in 2024)."

If league investigators find proof that the Bucks and Gary Trent Jr. are guilty of what the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard were guilty of, the punishment could be equally severe, if not worse, per @joevardon

(https://t.co/gMIbYUBEH5) pic.twitter.com/CnHeyTthUd
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) September 23, 2026

Vardon continued by mentioning that Trent declined both player options to set up a larger payday, and that the other detail that caught the NBA's eye was that he finished with his worst statistical season since his rookie year.

"There were player options attached to both deals, and he declined them both, setting up larger paydays. Then, in the run-up to his new contract, which will pay him more than $15 million annually, he muddled through his worst statistical campaign since his rookie campaign from eight years ago."

The primary focus during this investigation is whether the NBA needs to learn if the Bucks and Trent purposefully agreed to enter into smaller and cheaper contracts to reward him with a future, which would violate the league's salary rules, Vardon wrote.

He also explained that if Trent and the Bucks agreed to a deal at the beginning of free agency rather weeks after the blockbuster trade that sent Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami, then the reactions around the league would've been eye rolls and mockery after a mediocre season rival executives told him.

But because the news broke well into free agency after most teams used majority of their available cap space, those same executives believed that Milwaukee paid well above his value. The Bucks, however, told the rival teams that they believed in Trent's market value and they projected him as a $15 million-per-year player.

This also isn't the first time that Milwaukee signed a role player to smaller and cheaper deal before signing them to a larger contract. Bobby Portis, who was also traded to the Heat along with Antetokounmpo, signed a two-year deal twice that included a player option in 2021 and 2022, but declined them both. In 2022, he finally signed a long-term deal where he agreed to a four-year, $48 million contract to stay with the Bucks, which is similar to what Trent did this year.

The main difference is that Portis had a solid year with the Bucks before he signed the contract during the 2021-22 season after he averaged 14.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game while shooting 47.9% from the field and 39.3% from the 3-point line. If Trent also produced at that level, then there would most likely be no investigation.

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