Gary Trent: A Renewal that Smells a Lot Like Tampering

Gary Trent Jr. – The Season That Wasn’t

So, Gary Trent Jr. had himself a bit of a rough ride there in the 2025-26 NBA season. I mean, you call it a season, but he practically snoozed through it. He ended up with his lowest scoring average since his rookie season, putting up a measly 8.1 points per game! Yikes! To top it off, his shooting percentage was hovering around a cringe-worthy 38.7%. If you were counting on him for anything other than giving fans a reason to leave their seats, well, good luck with that. Doc Rivers, bless his heart, decided Trent’s contributions weren’t worth the hype, and he barely managed to stay in the rotation. Talk about a major flop!

Back to the Bucks

Now, after such a drama-filled season, you might think Trent would be left in the dust come free agency, but nope! Hold onto your basketballs, folks, he’s got a four-year deal worth $64 million coming his way with the Milwaukee Bucks. That’s a staggering jump from the $3.7 million he was scraping by on last year. Money talks, and this deal has everyone buzzing about whether there was some secret handshake agreement between the team, Trent, and his agent, Rich Paul. Because honestly, this salary leap seems almost too good to be true!

The Curious Case of Gary Trent

Now, let’s take a trip down memory lane. Just a year ago, Trent signed for that humble sum of three and a half million bucks after being one of the Bucks’ key assets during the 2024-25 season. Initially, he started a bit shaky, but he quickly regained his groove, ending the regular season as a vital player. Remember that fantastic playoff run? Dude dropped over 30 points on not one, but two occasions—excluding that disastrous Game 5 where he shone a bit too brightly with his turnovers.

Whispers of a Secret Deal

All this has led many conspiracy theorists—well, basketball aficionados—to speculate that there might have been a quiet understanding behind the scenes. What if Gary took a pay cut last season to let the Bucks get one last shot at building a killer roster around Giannis? The idea being that once that plan came to fruition, he’d be loaded back like a champ this season. And it seems the folks in Wisconsin sure hoped he’d earn this hefty renewal, or at least not stink it up!

The Word on the Street

Moreover, NBA insiders Sam Amick and Eric Nehm from The Athletic are suggesting that several executives from other teams had caught wind of this potential deal months in advance, figuring the Bucks would “reward Trent for taking one for the team” last season. However, it’s still hazy whether they were just guessing or if they really had some inside information that has now been confirmed.

The moral of the story? In the wild world of basketball, sometimes you scratch backs, and other times, well, you just get a massive payday for paying your dues in a season you’d rather forget!