The Milwaukee Bucks are staring down one of the NBA’s messiest investigations, and the fallout could be brutal if the league decides Gary Trent Jr.’s deal crossed the line.
Brian Windhorst and Bobby Marks on the NBA's investigation of Gary Trent Jr.'s $64 million free agent deal with the Bucks 👀
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 11, 2026
"I'll just put it this way. Everybody in the league expects a guilty finding in Gary Trent. If that doesn't happen, it will be an upset."
"If [the Bucks]…
Trent signed a four-year, $64 million contract with Milwaukee after previously being on a minimum deal, and that jump has fueled talk around the league that the Bucks may have run afoul of salary cap rules. The suspicion is that Trent accepted less money up front in return for an under-the-table promise of a richer payday later. Adding to the unease, Trent has barely been on the floor this season, appearing in just three games.
On a recent edition of The Hoop Collective, Brian Windhorst, Tim McMahon and Bobby Marks laid out how serious this could get for Milwaukee. Windhorst said Bucks general manager John Horst could be headed for a suspension.
“I don’t want anybody to lose their job, but John Horst is facing a disaster situation with this team where he might be getting suspended. That’s what I’m saying.”
Windhorst also said the league-wide expectation is that the Bucks will be found guilty, and he described the possible general manager vacancy as one of the bleakest in recent memory.
“Everybody in the league expects a guilty finding in Gary Trent. If that doesn’t happen, it will be an upset, okay? So it could be potentially the worst general manager opening in decades.”
Marks compared the situation to previous league cases and said the penalties could be severe if the NBA comes down against Milwaukee.
“If we’re going on past precedent, and we can go back to Minnesota with Joe Smith, and we can go back to the Clippers stuff from this summer, if they are found guilty, there are going to be draft picks stripped, and people are going to be suspended indefinitely for a long time here.”
McMahon didn’t soften the picture either, saying the Bucks could be looking at a long stretch of pain if the league rules against them.
“You call this the danger zone. I call this hell.
What happens if hell freezes over? It’s a Milwaukee NBA season for the next five or six years.
That’s what happens.”
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