Months after the NBA's historic penalties imposed on the Clippers for their salary-cap violations involving Kawhi Leonard, there remains another domino left to fall.
Gary Trent Jr.'s contract with the Bucks has also caught the eye of the league, which is investigating Milwaukee for potential cap-circumvention violations involving the deal the veteran guard signed in July.
Not only has Trent appeared in only three games this season — the latest hints at the potential fallout of the investigation suggest the Bucks may be penalized.
Here are the latest rumblings from NBA insiders about the Trent investigation.
MORE: Inside beef between Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown
Latest Gary Trent Jr. investigation update hints at bad news for Bucks
In July, the Bucks announced an unexpected extension for Trent, a four-year, $64 million contract that raised some suspicions around the NBA. Shortly after, the league announced it was investigating.
The reason some red flags were raised surrounding Trent's deal is primarily connected to a significant raise from his previous contracts. In 2024, he signed with the Bucks on a league minimum. In 2025, he re-signed on a two-year, $7.5 million deal, but opted out of his player option this past summer.
In 2025-26, Trent had one of the worst seasons of his career, averaging 8.1 points per game on 38.7% shooting from the floor. Yet the Bucks, who had given him to previous deals under $4 million annually, agreed to give him a new AAV of $16 million per year, a massive raise.
Those unusual circumstances led to social media speculation about whether the Bucks had purposefully agreed to previous smaller, cheaper contracts with plans to later give Trent a more lucrative extension, which would violate the salary-cap rules, leading to the NBA's investigation. It all came at a time when the Clippers were already being heavily penalized for their violations with Leonard.
As of September, a league spokesperson told The Athletic that the investigation was still ongoing, while both the Bucks and Klutch Sports Group, which represents Trent, are cooperating. National investigations law firm Hecker Fink is examining the circumstances of Trent's contract.
It remains unclear when the NBA will announce the findings of its investigation — but on Wednesday, insiders Brian Windhorst, Bobby Marks and Tim McMahon spoke about the Trent situation, with Windhorst saying "everybody in the league expects a guilty finding."
"If they are found guilty, there are going to be draft picks stripped and people suspended indefinitely," Marks said.
The Bucks are facing a potential catastrophe over the Gary Trent Jr. investigation, per @WindhorstESPN , @BobbyMarks42 , @BannedMacMahon "Everybody in the league expects a guilty finding." "If they are found guilty, there are going to be draft picks stripped and people suspended indefinitely." "It could be potentially the worst general manager opening in decades." "You call this the danger zone. I call this hell."
— NBABase (@TheNBABase) November 11, 2026For now, it's officially not known whether the Bucks will be found guilty of cap violations with Trent. But if they are, they may be penalized just as severely as the Clippers, who were docked five first-round picks and fined $30 million with owner Steve Ballmer, business president Gillian Zucker and basketball president Lawrence Frank all facing suspensions.
Meanwhile, Trent has played in just three of the Bucks' games so far this season, making little impact for head coach Taylor Jenkins despite his contract.
MORE NBA:
