SerpApi.Org
This offseason has certainly been one to remember. Between all the trades involving numerous NBA superstars, free-agent signings, and LeBron James' looming decision about where he will play next, the league's landscape has dramatically shifted. However, one deal that undeniably raised a lot of eyebrows was the Milwaukee Bucks' decision to hand role player Gary Trent Jr. a four-year, $64 million deal, all of which is guaranteed.
What's curious about the deal is the fact that Trent's deal with the Bucks last season was for the minimum. He then played subpar basketball during the 2025-26 campaign, logging the worst numbers of his career since his rookie year (8.1 points per game on 38.7 percent shooting), making the contract that he recently received all the more dubious.
The NBA has since announced it is looking into the transaction, which was orchestrated by controversial agent Rich Paul, CEO of Klutch Sports.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, though, believes the league is playing with fire by investigating Trent's contract, saying that nobody in the league office bats an eye when a team signs a player for less than his market value. However, when a player gets more than what most people think he deserves, it creates an uproar.
Gary is a solid shooting guard
Trent, a 6'5" guard with eight years of NBA experience, has already proven himself to be a valuable player, especially during his four-year stint with the Toronto Raptors, in which he averaged 16.4 points and made 38.0 percent of his 3-pointers. In an era when perimeter shooting is a premium, the floor spacing Gary provides is essential to team success.
Green believes that when all is said and done, Trent Jr. will live up to the contract that he signed.
"Gary Trent did not have a great year last year. There were times where Doc Rivers took him out of the lineup, and he collected some DNPs even at times. I don't think he necessarily got to truly show who Gary Trent is. He's still a fairly young player," Green said.
"So I do think, at the mid-level, Gary Trent will show that, yeah, of course, I'm a mid-level player. Make no mistake about it. I believe that Gary Trent will show that," he added.
A slippery slope
Green contended that what the NBA is trying to do is a slippery slope, pointing out that nobody makes a fuss if a team gets a player on the cheap.
"For it to be getting investigated, I think it's s—t. I don't agree with the investigation. It's signaling something totally different. So now it's an issue when players get paid maybe a little more than what people thought they should," Dray stated.
"But we don't go investigate the teams when they get a player on a deal that they shouldn't have gotten that player on. When they get a player for cheaper than they should have gotten a player, we don't go investigate the teams. But when a player gets a little more money than everybody expected, now it's an investigation," he continued.
"I don't like that. I think it's a slippery slope for the NBA. I don't love the message that it's sending."
It's worth noting that while Dray raises a fair point, he and Gary share the same agent. So his judgment may be clouded by his loyalty to the man who has helped him secure numerous lucrative deals throughout his career.
