Gary Trent Jr.’s new deal in Milwaukee is the kind of contract that makes the rest of the league do a double take, and for the Jazz, it could end up being more than just a weird Bucks decision.
Free agent guard Gary Trent Jr. has agreed to a four-year, $64 million deal to stay with the Milwaukee Bucks, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul and agent Lucas Newton told ESPN.
Trent was once a steady contributor, but this past season didn’t exactly strengthen his case. Still, Milwaukee handed him a massive extension even as the team has basically started over, and that’s where the ripple effect comes in for Utah.
The connection runs through Paul, who represents Trent and also has clients on the Jazz roster. That matters because when those players come up for new deals, Paul will almost certainly point to Trent’s payday as part of the conversation. Utah has two names in that bucket: Ace Bailey and Isaiah Collier.
Bailey looks like the easier call. Based on where his trajectory is headed, the Jazz will likely pay him a hefty sum regardless of who is representing him when the time comes.
Collier is the more interesting case. He’s been easy to overlook, but he’s Utah’s backup point guard, and Paul may now have a fresh benchmark to work with.
Collier has strengths and weaknesses, but the idea is simple enough: after what Paul just secured for Trent, Collier could reasonably see himself as deserving of a similar bump. And because Paul has a reputation for getting his clients paid, that’s something Utah has to keep in mind.
The Jazz have already been through this before with one of Paul’s players. Jordan Clarkson got a bad deal from Utah, and it didn’t take long for that extension to look like a mistake. At the time, the Jazz weren’t even fully sure where they were headed, and once the direction became clear, Clarkson’s fit no longer made much sense at the number they were paying him.
He stuck with the team through the rebuild, which mattered, but the contract eventually became a burden. It got to the point where Utah bought him out, and he ended up getting paid in dead money and winning a title.
That said, Paul’s track record with the Jazz hasn’t been all bad. Jusuf Nurkic re-signed on a two-year, $22 million deal that was fair for both sides, especially after he turned in a surprisingly durable season in Utah. With Walker Kessler gone, keeping last season’s starting center on that kind of contract looks even better now.
So Paul clearly knows how to push a deal to the top of the market when he wants to, as Trent and Clarkson show, but he also knows when a number makes sense. That should at least offer Utah some comfort when Bailey and Collier eventually get to the table.
Still, Trent’s extension is the kind of contract agents notice. If Paul uses it as a talking point with other clients, that’s exactly what he’s supposed to do. It isn’t a Jazz problem yet, but it’s the kind of thing Utah has already felt before - and could feel again.
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The difference, of course, is how Jazz fans are supposed to feel about it. Minnesota was easy enough to watch from a distance, but the Lakers are another matter entirely, especially when those same former Jazz players can now affect Utah directly in the standings and the playoff chase. There is some irony in seeing ex-Jazz talent clustered in a place that can matter so much to the team they left behind, and that is what makes this one hit a little differently. [Read more 🡒]