Bucks still await result of NBA investigation into Gary Trent Jr. contract
· Yahoo Sports
Milwaukee Bucks training camp will open on Tuesday, Sept. 29, and the organization remains under an NBA investigation for a possible violation of the collective bargaining agreement for signing Gary Trent Jr. to a $64 million free-agent deal.
Bucks governor and co-owner Wes Edens said on the team's annual media day Sept. 28 that the team is cooperating with the league, and general manager Jon Horst did not have a comment on when the investigation might be completed.
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The NBA launched the inquiry hours after the Bucks made the signing official on July 16.
"I can't really comment on any of this, so I appreciate the question,” Edens said when asked if he was concerned about the investigation. “But as I said, we're working with the league and we're very engaged with them.”
The league retained the law firm Hecker Fink to investigate the process that led the Bucks to re-sign Trent to the eighth-largest free-agent contract of the offseason after he previously played for the team under veteran minimum salaries of $2.6 million in 2023-24 and $3.8 million in 2024-25.
The concern from the league is the team and Trent’s agency, Klutch Sports Group, violated the CBA by having an illegal side agreement to compensate Trent for taking less money the previous two years when the team was facing rosterbuilding constraints.
Bucks general manager Jon Horst also did not have a comment on the ongoing investigation or what he told he league, but he did explain why the team prioritized re-signing Trent as their one significant free-agent move in the offseason.
“I think when you look at Gary Trent and what he’s done for us the last two seasons, and even before us in his young career, he’s an elite shooter,” Horst said. “One of five or six players to really shoot the amount of threes and make the amount of threes he has as a reserve the last couple years. Only 27 years old. Was big for us in playoff moments.
"So there’s a big belief in Gary for what we think matters, and that’s elite shooting in the NBA. That’s hard to find, something that [head coach] Taylor [Jenkins] values and I think that he’s going to be maximized even more for us. It was a great opportunity for us to do that and we acted on it.”
As for Trent, he was asked about returning to Milwaukee as a free agent and if it was satisfying to be valued.
“It was great,” he said. “The goal was to sign here, continue to keep building, continue to keep winning, win championships. That’s the main focus. That’s always going to be the main goal.
"To do that, you’ve got to continue to build these habits, show a certain value, put a certain flow out there, and win.
"Winning takes care of everything and that’s the main goal, that’s our main focus this season.”
He was then asked if he was frustrated at all by the fact his deal was being investigated, and the 27-year-old said, “It’s an ongoing an investigation so I really don’t got no comment on it, but hopeful it gets resolved soon.”
Edens has had a front row seat to two major cap circumvention investigations over the last few months. He is a co-owner of the Premier League soccer team Aston Villa, and Manchester City was found guilty of over 100 improper financial actions on Sept. 25, though a punishment has yet to be handed down.
And on Sept. 2, the NBA severely punished the Los Angeles Clippers for improperly funneling money to Kawhi Leonard through intermediaries. Owner Steve Ballmer was suspended for a year, president of basketball operationsLawrence Frank was suspended for six months and the team was docked five future first-round draft picks.
It was a similar punishment that Minnesota was given in 2000 for putting in writing a plan to pay Joe Smith three different below-market, one-year salaries before eventually awarding him a bigger deal.
When asked broadly about how important enforcing league rules are Edens said, "Integrity is not just a good idea, it's the way to live your life, right? So I think that the league is a serious league.”
The Bucks have experienced that, as they were docked a future second-round pick for "gun jumping" in free agency in 2020 over improper early communication with restricted free agent Bogdan Bogdanović.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks still await result of NBA investigation into Gary Trent Jr. contract