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The Milwaukee Bucks got a steal when they signed Gary Trent Jr. to a veteran’s minimum contract. More than that, he signed with them despite having richer offers on the table.
Sportsnet’s Blake Murphy revealed which two factors led to Trent joining the Bucks on a minimum despite the offer to make more elsewhere.
“In the end, he opted to reunite with Damian Lillard and contend for a championship on a one-year minimum ($2.6 million) rather than taking multi-year offers at the smaller mid-level ($5.2 million in Year 1) that were on the table, according to league sources,” Murphy wrote in a July 16 story.
Trent has familiarity with Lillard from their days with the Portland Trail Blazers. He also will likely replace Malik Beasley as their starting shooting guard. Over the last several years, Trent has proven himself a certified sharpshooter. Over the course of eight NBA seasons, Trent has shot 38.6% from three.
On the Bucks, he will likely get plenty of looks on the offensive end. The gravity of Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Khris Middleton will leave Trent wide open behind the arc. If all goes right for all parties involved, his role in Milwaukee could lead to richer offers in 2025.
Adding Gary Trent Jr. Helps Productive Offseason for Bucks
The Bucks have plenty of questions about their rotation coming into the 2024 NBA Offseason. Among their problems was their lack of depth. Adding Trent to their rotation is adding yet another solid player to help with them.
Trent is their third free agent addition besides Delon Wright and Taurean Prince. Adding them gives them more help along the perimeter. Better yet, they are upgrades over who they had during the 2023-24 season, with those players including Beasley, Patrick Beverley, and Jae Crowder. Having better rotation players will better solidify the Bucks’ rotation, which could help with their title chances.
The Bucks may confront some of their other problems before the 2024-25 season begins. However, whether they make those changes or not, they can take comfort in knowing that they got better contributions outside of their top four players. Knowing the little money they could offer, Trent, Wright, and Prince are as good as it gets for them.
Gary Trent Jr. Got Into Fight With Brook Lopez in 2023
In a way, the Bucks’ addition of Trent Jr. is funny, seeing how he and Brook Lopez got into a fight during the 2022-23 season. Lopez received his first NBA ejection for taking Trent’s headband.
Now, they will be teammates for at least one season. However, Trent and Lopez likely worked it out before the former signed with the Bucks. NBA players have gotten into fights before they became teammates. Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade’s feud was highly publicized before they joined forces with the Chicago Bulls.
Even if it was for one season, they made it work. Trent and Lopez will likely get past their differences especially knowing that this happened a year and a half ago. Trent playing beside a teammate he knows, like Lillard, will likely help him transition easily in Milwaukee.
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