Gary Trent Jr. is still waiting for a real chance in Milwaukee, and that might be the clearest sign yet of where things stand with the Bucks.
While Taylor Jenkins keeps shuffling the deck in search of anything that works, Trent has barely been part of the conversation. Milwaukee has already tried different looks, including benching Ryan Rollins and Jaime Jaquez Jr. and bringing Ousmane Dieng back into the rotation.
But the recent re-signee has not been one of the answers. He has logged just 23 minutes all season and has spent most of his time watching from the sideline.
That’s a notable choice for a player who just landed a $64 million raise. Trent once averaged 18.3 points in a season, but he was also rough last year, putting up some of the worst numbers of his NBA career.
Even so, being reduced to little more than mop-up duty feels like a hard line to draw, especially with Kyle Kuzma and Myles Turner still getting minutes. Jenkins, at least so far, clearly doesn’t see enough to justify a longer look.
The optics aren’t great for Milwaukee, either. The Bucks are being investigated for potential cap circumvention, and keeping Trent buried while cycling through other options does not exactly help the team’s case. If he had been in the rotation from opening night and played well, that would not erase any possible wrongdoing, but it would have made the situation look a lot less suspicious.
Instead, Jenkins appears to be moving forward with the players he trusts more and leaving Trent on the outside. He is dealing with a problem he inherited, but his current approach says plenty about how he views the guard right now.
Still, there is time for that to change. Jenkins could throw Trent back into the mix and see whether there is anything left to salvage. With Milwaukee sitting at 1-11, the bar is already on the floor.
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