The talk of the town has been the Milwaukee Bucks' unexpected four-year deal with free-agent swingman Gary Trent Jr., and not for the reasons that fans would hope. Unfortunately, the deal is being maligned as one of the worst in the NBA this summer, and it's hard to disagree. At an annual average of $16 million per season, Trent just became one of the highest-paid role players of the offseason, while coming off the worst statistical season of his career.
I'm going to be honest with you upfront, dear reader... this is not a great contract. Here are some of the annual average values, or AAVs, of the other top sharpshooters on the market this summer:
● Bogdan Bogdanović: $3.5 million
● Tim Hardaway Jr.: $6.1 million
● Anfernee Simons: $6.2 million
● Luke Kennard: $6.5 million
● Landry Shamet: $6 million
● Kevin Huerter: $9 million
● Dean Wade: $9.7 million
● Quentin Grimes: $15 million
● Julian Champagnie: $15 million
● Gary Trent Jr.: $16 million
So yes, based on his statistical output, this is a clear overpay, to the point that the NBA is reportedly investigating the deal, allegedly on suspicion that the Bucks could've agreed to an under-the-table deal to extend Trent on a long-term deal this summer at the mid-level if he stuck around on a minimum last year. Even in the height of Summer League, LeBron's free-agent race, and the latest developments around Kawhi Leonard's Aspiration investigation, Gary Trent Jr. has some
But setting all that aside, I can also see the merits of keeping Gary Trent Jr. and paying him at that rate. This is not to say that it's actually a good deal value-wise, or that nothing went down behind the scenes leading to this. Frankly, I'm not interested in dissecting that at this stage of the process. Instead, I want to provide some context as to the one question everyone and their mother keeps bringing up in this scenario...
Why would the Bucks pay this much to keep Gary Trent Jr. in Milwaukee?
Over the course of the last five seasons, Gary Trent Jr. ranks 20th in total 3-point makes. Of that elite group of shooters, he ranks 9th in 3-point efficiency and 8th in total steals during that same span. His skill set is very specific, but it's historically been very important to winning in the modern era. If you can force turnovers and generate transition 3-pointers out of they you can swing a game.
We saw that on full display when Trent played the role of Playoff Savior with 37 points and a Bucks franchise Playoff record nine 3s in the Bucks' Game 3 victory over Indiana in the 2025 first round. Even in a time when the team was unable to build any real postseason success, he managed to etch his name into Bucks playoff history, averaging 18.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.6 steals per game on remarkable efficiency at 51.6% FG, 50% 3P, and 80% FT.
This past season, Trent was the biggest victim of arguably the worst season of Doc Rivers' coaching career. The Bucks had no consistent game plan and did nothing to put their shooters in a position to succeed besides spamming Giannis drives to the basket when he was available. The off-ball movement was non-existent as Trent was relegated to standing in the corner and bailing the team out at the end of the shot clock.
After coming into the year with an expectation that he'd start, Trent was relegated to a bench role, dealt with injuries throughout the season, and was never afforded a real opportunity to find his rhythm — something notoriously important for a shooter such as himself.
Before accepting the minimum in back-to-back years in Milwaukee, Trent was on a three-year, $54 million deal he signed with the Raptors, giving him an AAV of $18 million per year. Compared to that, Trent just took a pay cut for a deal that will take him from age 27 to 31. Essentially, the Bucks are paying for the prime years of his playing career, and clearly expect him to be an important part of this lineup when they return to training camp.
Let's give the Bucks some grace and try to think from a different perspective for just a moment. The cap is inflating every year thanks to new media rights deals under the most recent CBA, and Trent is expected to make about 8.7% of the cap this year. He's been through a lot with the Bucks in recent years and has proven himself to be someone who can go with the flow while also reserving the right to ignite whenever called upon.
Milwaukee is known for being loyal to the players who are loyal to them, which could easily be seen as under-the-table hijinks to the masses. But who's to say there was any foul play involved? The team may just view him as being more valuable compared to the rest of the league, and if they hadn't used their Early Bird Rights, he easily could've been lured away by another team.
It's up to you how much stock you're willing to put into this being the real reason for the contract, but these are all factors the league will consider during the investigation, so they cannot go unstated when looking at the bigger picture.
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