The NBA dropped the hammer on Steve Ballmer and the LA Clippers with massive fines and draft penalties following a year-long investigation into possible salary cap circumvention to retain Kawhi Leonard, as first reported by Pablo Torre. It's not only one of the biggest storylines of the last year in the NBA, but one of the most controversial in all of sports, and some Milwaukee Bucks fans are wondering if this crackdown could have ripple effects on their own team.
Granted, it's a far less serious situation than what unfolded in Los Angeles, but fans and analysts have been side-eyeing the four-year, $64 million contract that Milwaukee gave to unrestricted free agent Gary Trent Jr. this summer as a possible handshake, under-the-table deal for taking back-to-back minimum deals to stay with the Bucks.
I've already laid out the case for why this deal, while inflated to the naked eye, might not be as heinous as some have made it out to be. Trent Jr. has been one of the NBA's top marksmen and movement shooters for the last seven years, and he made legitimate monetary and role sacrifices for the Bucks. Even if it's not a great deal on paper, I don't see anything wrong with paying a player above market value if A. They think he earned it over the last two seasons, and B. They have the financial flexibility to do it.
With that said, the concern is whether the NBA will view it that way, or whether their findings in the Kawhi Leonard situation will prompt NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to audit the league's dealings more deeply in its wake.
Could the Milwaukee Bucks get into trouble for their Gary Trent Jr. deal?
If the NBA decided to investigate the Bucks' deal with Gary Trent Jr. and found any substantial evidence of an undercover handshake agreement for Milwaukee to secure him on a long-term contract this summer, that would violate the league's rules about unauthorized agreements between teams, agents, and players. However, they would need a paper trail, as they had in the Leonard case, to impose any serious sanctions.
With that said, I'm not sure that's even in the league's best interest at this stage. Silver still has a long legal battle ahead of him, presuming Ballmer contests the findings of the NBA's investigation in court or arbitration. The Clippers' billionaire owner was banned from team or league activities for the next year, and the team was stripped of five future first-round picks from 2029 through 2033. Several other Clippers officials were also penalized, while Leonard himself was fined, and his former agent and uncle, Dennis Robertson, is facing action from the NBA as well.
That was a long, drawn-out conspiracy that set a new precedent for NBA teams and owners — you cannot go beyond the bounds of the CBA to secure talent for your team. It's not the same situation as what's been thrown around about the Bucks, with no evidence other than the contract itself.
Furthermore, something tells me Adam Silver and the Players Association wouldn't like the precedent this would set for future deals. First of all, they'd be in direct conflict with Klutch Sports, the most powerful agency in the NBA, and would likely face backlash from the NBPA, whose goal is always for players to get paid as much as possible within the scope of the CBA.
Therefore, even if the NBA did investigate and find some improper dealings between the Bucks, Gary Trent Jr., or Klutch Sports, this wouldn't come close to what occurred between Leonard, Ballmer, and the Clippers.
It's been reported by most major outlets and NBA journalists that the Bucks are being investigated by the NBA to see if any violations were made. Furthermore, there's a case to be made that we've already seen Trent perform up to the value of practically the same deal. Before his minimum deal with the Bucks, Trent played on a 3-year, $54 million deal with an average annual value of $18 million. His average annual value on this new deal is $16 million, and he's only 27.
At the end of the day, whether you agree with it or not, there's logic behind the Gary Trent Jr. deal in a way that there was no feasible logic to Kawhi Leonard's no-show endorsement deals in Los Angeles. That is the ultimate separator between these two situations, and why, if there are any findings or punishment at all, it'll most likely be far less severe than what the Clippers have to live with.
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