The Milwaukee Bucks are under investigation by the NBA for their handling of Gary Trent Jr.’s contract.
That hasn’t caused the Bucks to all of a sudden give Trent a bunch of playing time this season, though.
The funniest plot twist in the whole situation may be the fact that the Bucks have played four games this season and Trent hasn’t appeared in a single one.
The league investigation is ongoing, but it’s not anything that would force Trent to be out of action. The Bucks seemingly just don’t want to play him.
Ironically, that’s not going to help their cause in the NBA’s eyes.
Bucks-Gary Trent Jr. Controversy
The Bucks are under investigation for the contract they gave Trent before last season.
The deal was for four years and worth $64 million, which is $16 million per year.
They gave Trent that contract despite him coming off two shaky seasons in a row. And the worry is that the Bucks had agreed in years prior with Trent to underpay him in those seasons to help their salary cap, but that they’d reward him with the big contract later on once the books got clearer.
Milwaukee certainly didn’t use Trent last season like a player who was making $16 million per year — and the fact that he hasn’t gotten off the bench this season speaks even more volumes.
Why Gary Trent Jr. Isn’t Playing
If we take away the contract stuff for a minute, it makes perfect sense that Trent isn’t playing.
The Bucks added a bunch of younger perimeter pieces this offseason through both the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade and through the draft. They want to give them all time on the floor to develop and be ready for the next era of Milwaukee basketball.
Trent isn’t going to be a part of that future, so the Bucks don’t need to use a bunch of minutes on him.
Besides, Trent’s 8.1 points per game average last season was his lowest since the 2019-20 season. He shot 36.0% from 3-point range, not high enough for a guy whose main skill is shooting the basketball.
Trent will turn 28 in January, not super old but also clearly not part of the Bucks’ future plans.
It’s just probably not going to work out well for the Bucks that the guy they signed to a $64 million contract last year isn’t even playing now. The NBA has probably noticed that, and it’ll be fascinating to see what their investigation comes up with in the end.
Bucks Not Making $64 Million Gary Trent Jr. Controversy Look Any Better