The Milwaukee Bucks’ post-Giannis Antetokounmpo trade moves continue to raise eyebrows. Despite entering the offseason with a clear need for frontcourt help, the franchise instead doubled down on its backcourt by handing Gary Trent Jr. a four-year, $64 million contract. The deal has since come under heavy scrutiny, with fans and analysts alike calling for the NBA to investigate what they believe could be potential salary-cap circumvention.

“The NBA should probably take a look at what is a truly nonsensical contract here given that Trent just averaged 8 PPG and shot 39% from the field in 22 minutes per game last season,” Sam Vecenie, Senior Writer at The Athletic, tweeted. “All I ask here is simply “what other player in the past has agreed to sign for the minimum one year, gone on to have his worst season in seven years where he was a below-average player by any standard, and then received 5x as much money in free agency the following year?”

It was Shams Charania who broke the news that Gary Trent Jr. would stay with the Bucks amid free agency. The report also revealed that Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul and agent Lucas Newton had been in deep negotiations since mid-June and had even explored a sign-and-trade option before agreeing to the new deal. Much of the scrutiny stems from the contrast between Trent’s recent production and the size of the contract, coupled with Milwaukee’s ability to use his Bird rights after retaining him on consecutive below-market deals.

The 27-year-old first signed with the Bucks on a veteran minimum contract ahead of the 2024-25 season before returning on a two-year, $7.5 million deal the following summer, which he later opted out of this offseason. On the hardwood, he averaged 8.1 points per game in 2025-26, his lowest mark since his rookie campaign, after averaging 11.1 points in his first season with Milwaukee. That’s why the four-year deal has caught everyone’s eye despite a relatively quiet campaign.

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The Athletic further reported that after Trent’s first season with the Bucks, many around the league expected his next contract to be worth around $10 million annually. Instead, after another season on a below-market contract, the 27-year-old landed a fully guaranteed four-year, $64 million deal. Another interesting anecdote is that Trent went from a bench player on a minimum contract to receiving the 10th-largest contract in this summer’s free agency. ESPN also reported that the deal will pay him $15.2 million in its first season.

Netizens urge an investigation after Gary Trent Jr.’s contract

The contract is also guaranteed for four years. In a market where LeBron James is expected to take a pay cut, and James Harden and Draymond Green are also signing for less, the Bucks’ decision is baffling. Frank Madden, a prominent Milwaukee Bucks analyst, suggested the league could investigate potential cap circumvention.

“As we feared, the Bucks backed themselves into probably the least justified wink-wink deal in history last summer and now get absolutely torched for it. If ever the league was going to investigate a deal for being pre-arranged it would be this one. Horsted by their own petard!”

The sentiment was echoed by fans across social media. “I don’t even understand how this even remotely makes sense based on how he played last year. This has to be a wink-wink deal,” one fan wrote, reflecting the widespread disbelief over the numbers.

Another netizen explained in simpler terms, “He signs for the minimum and less money he could have when the Bucks didn’t have his birds rights, and now they sign him for this amount when nobody will give him this contract”

NBA cap expert Nate Duncan flagged the Bucks’ contract as potential salary-cap circumvention. Trent opted out of his $3.88 million player option before signing the fully guaranteed deal starting at $15.2 million. This allowed the Bucks to use accumulated Bird rights for a larger commitment than many analysts believe he would have commanded on the open market.

“Gary Trent getting 4/$64 after the year he just had is obvious circumvention and should be punished by the league. This would fall under the provision that there is no possible explanation other than circumvention.”

Echoing that sentiment, The Athletic’s John Hollinger wrote that Trent “played his way out of the rotation on a bad team last season” and called the deal one of the league’s most surprising free-agent contracts, questioning who Milwaukee was realistically bidding against. Mike Vorkunov similarly described the agreement as “curious,” noting that Trent secured one of the offseason’s largest fully guaranteed contracts despite coming off the least productive season of his career since his rookie year.

One similar situation that netizens compared it to was the Timberwolves’ contract for Joe Smith. Smith reportedly signed three consecutive short-term, below-market deals from 1996 to 1999.

This allowed Minnesota to retain his Bird rights so the franchise could later re-sign him above the salary cap to a massive seven-year, $86 million extension. A secret side agreement promised a big payday, violating NBA rules against circumvention. After the agreement came to light, the NBA voided Smith’s contract, fined the Timberwolves $3.5 million and stripped the franchise of five first-round draft picks, though two were later restored.

“Wolves got hit with 5 firsts with Joe Smith one in 2000.” Another comment took a dig at the Bucks and expected them to leave no paper trail behind in the Gary Trent Jr. deal. “Guessing the Bucks didn’t make the same mistake the Wolves did with Joe Smith. Doubt there’s a smoking gun here.”

As of now, however, there has been no indication from the NBA that it has opened a formal investigation into Trent’s contract, with the allegations remaining limited to reactions from analysts and fans.