The Clippers have spent the summer taking the biggest hit in the league’s cap-circumvention conversation, but Milwaukee’s situation could end up looking just as bad, if not worse.
That’s because the Bucks are still under investigation over the four-year, $64 million guaranteed contract Gary Trent Jr. signed this offseason. And according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic on Wednesday, if league investigators find the Bucks and Trent guilty of the same kind of wrongdoing that has been tied to the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard, the punishment could be just as severe.
Milwaukee’s deal with Trent is the one raising eyebrows. Trent signed with the Bucks on a veteran minimum contract in 2024 and made $2.6 million that season.
He then re-signed the next offseason on a two-year, $7.6 million deal that included a $3.9 million player option for 2026-27. He declined that option and ultimately landed the much larger four-year, $64 million contract.
The problem is that Trent’s production didn’t exactly scream major payday. He averaged 8.1 points while shooting 38.7% from the field and 36% from three, all of which were his lowest marks since his rookie season. That gap between performance and payout is what helped trigger the investigation.
If the league finds evidence that Milwaukee and Trent had an understanding that smaller contracts would eventually lead to a bigger one, then the whole thing could blow up on the Bucks. And unlike the Clippers, who were allegedly chasing Leonard, an accomplished star, Milwaukee would be explaining why it went down that road for Trent.
That’s where the comparison gets awkward. The Clippers’ situation centered on Leonard, with Paul George also in the mix, and the team at least reached the conference finals after the 2019 move. Milwaukee, meanwhile, tried to build around Giannis Antetokounmpo during his final years with the franchise and wound up with a first-round playoff loss to the Pacers in 2025.
The point isn’t to excuse what Steve Ballmer and the Clippers front office were accused of orchestrating. They still messed up, and they’ll be paying for it for years. But if the Bucks are found guilty too, then the league may have uncovered another team willing to take the same kind of risk, just with far less star power attached.
And if that’s the case, the Clippers may not be the only ones stuck dealing with the fallout.
In Other News...
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What makes it tricky for the Clippers is the lack of a detailed update on where his recovery stands. The team is expected to be patient with his health and avoid pushing him into anything that could create a setback, which leaves his status for the upcoming season hanging over a roster that would like clarity, not another unanswered question. [Read more 🡒]
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The bigger shift, though, came when the franchise moved on from Kawhi Leonard in a deal with Toronto that reshaped the roster and draft stock around the margins. Even with the added pieces and picks, the Leonard era never really stopped casting a shadow over the Clippers planning, and the long-term cost of that chapter ended up being part of the conversation too. [Read more 🡒]
Clippers Punishment Shows How Ugly Another NBA Cap Probe Could Get
The NBAs yearlong probe into the Clippers ended with a severe penalty package tied to Kawhi Leonards contract, a reminder of how aggressively the league can move when it believes the salary cap has been crossed. Leonard was fined but avoided a suspension, and the fallout centered instead on team-level discipline, with the league going after the structure and the people around it rather than the star at the middle of the deal.
What makes the episode especially relevant around the league is the sense that it may not be the last of its kind. Another investigation is already circling a contract that has raised questions, and if the league concludes there was cap circumvention there too, the punishment could be just as painful. For front offices, the message is hard to miss: the cap rules are not just paperwork, and the league appears willing to make an example out of anyone it thinks tried to work around them. [Read more 🡒]