After turning down a modest $3.9MM player option for the 2026/27 season, Gary Trent Jr. has gained some traction in talks with the Bucks about a new contract, reports Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. League sources tell Afseth that a deal in the range of four years and $68MM is one option that has been discussed.
Those numbers carry some sticker shock, given that Trent has earned the veteran’s minimum or slightly above it during his first two seasons in Milwaukee and is coming off a down year, as his scoring average dropped to 8.1 points per game and his shooting line was just .387/.360/.769, well below his career rates.
While we’ll have to wait to see whether a deal along these lines comes to fruition, it’s worth noting that there was a widespread sense that Trent was taking a discount when he signed with the Bucks for the veteran’s minimum in 2024 and then accepted 20% above the minimum via his Non-Bird rights in 2025. Now that Milwaukee holds his Early Bird rights, allowing for a more significant raise, the front office may feel compelled to make him whole.
Still, if Trent’s price tag comes in anywhere close to that figure cited by Afseth, I’m skeptical that the last two or three years of the contract would be guaranteed. With the Bucks projected to be well below the tax line, the goal could be to turn the veteran wing into a mid-sized salary-matching piece for potential in-season trade opportunities.
We have more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Within a look at what Andrew Wiggins‘ new contract agreement means for the Heat, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald observes that the veteran forward will remain trade-eligible after he tacks on a two-year, $34MM extension to his $30.2MM salary for 2026/27. However, a league source tells Chiang that Miami’s plan is to keep Wiggins on its roster to open the 2026/27 season.
- According to Nets general manager Sean Marks, second-year guard Nolan Traore recently underwent a scope on his knee and therefore won’t be available to play in the California Classic or Las Vegas Summer Leagues next month, tweets Erik Slater of ClutchPoints. The rest of Brooklyn’s five 2025 first-round picks are expected to participate, Slater adds.
- Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan told reporters at his post-draft press conference that Tyrese Haliburton‘s recovery from an Achilles tear last June remains “on schedule” and that the star point guard is “anxious to get back,” writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. However, Buchanan is preaching patience with Haliburton, who will be over 15 months removed from playing in an NBA game by the time the preseason begins. “You’re away from the game for as long as he’ll be away once he steps back on the court, it’s not going to be instantly back to Tyrese,” Buchanan said. “I think we all have to have some grace with him. He knows that’s going to be part of his recovery that, ‘I’m not going to be myself instantly.’ You may see some ups and downs with him as the season starts.”
