The NBA is investigating the recent contract that Gary Trent Jr. signed with the Milwaukee Bucks, according to a new report.
ESPN’s Shams Charania tweeted on Thursday that the NBA is probing the four-year, $64 million contract that Trent signed with the Bucks, a massive contract for a player coming off a down year that has raised the eyebrows of NBA fans and insiders everywhere.
“The NBA is probing the signed $64 million free-agent deal for Gary Trent Jr. with the Milwaukee Bucks, per a league spokesperson,” Charania wrote on X.
NBA reporter Marc Stein recently reported that the league would likely be looking into the Trent contract in his recent Substack.
“Copious amounts of external noise that it is, at the very least, quite curious in the wake of the two low-dollar deals that Trent … signed with them and how he performed in 2025-26,” Stein wrote.
Bucks, Trent Accused of Handshake Deal
Immediately after news came out that Trent had signed this contract with the Bucks, eyebrows were raised because it was a huge contract for a player who was coming off a bad season.
“The Gary Trent Jr. timeline of joining the Milwaukee Bucks on a minimum and two years later getting a four-year, $64M fully guaranteed deal is highly suspicious to say the least. Here is a timeline of events from Trent Jr. picking up his player option with Toronto in 2023. Turning down extension reported at 15M per year, before reuniting with Damian Lillard on a minimum deal with an all in Milwaukee Bucks team, dealing with the implementation of the second apron rules,” wrote NBA reporter Grant Afseth recently on X.
Here is a timeline of events from Trent Jr. picking up his player option with Toronto in 2023.
There have been suggestions that the Bucks and Trent’s representation at Klutch Sports had a handshake deal in place where Trent would take two years of minimum salary contracts with the Bucks before the team got his Bird Rights, at which point the club could give him a bigger contract.
These handshake agreements are not allowed under the CBA. At this point, we do not know for sure if there was a handshake agreement in place here between the Bucks and Trent. However, many believe that there was, and the NBA is now investigating it if that’s the case.
Gary Trent Jr. Had a Down Year
After Trent had a solid first year in Milwaukee, by all accounts, he had a down year this past season, which is why the four-year, $64 million contract immediately raised red flags.
This past season, Trent averaged just 8.1 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 1.1 assists on 38.7/36.0/76.9 shooting splits. Yes, he ended up getting a huge raise from the veteran’s minimum contract that he played on last year, which raised concern and suspicions among fans and media that there was a handshake deal in place between the Bucks and Trent.
At this point, there is no definitive proof that is what happened. But the NBA is investigating what happened with this Trent contract now, so we will soon find out if the league finds out anything more.
NBA Investigating Gary Trent Jr. Contract