​The Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly signing veteran guard Gary Trent Jr. to a four-year, $64 million contract, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Trent Jr. previously held a player option on his last two-year deal with Milwaukee but chose to decline it, electing free agency. He is returning to Milwaukee, where he has spent the past two seasons and contributed as a steady presence in the backcourt.
Charania noted that Trent Jr. drew interest from multiple teams, and his camp explored potential sign-and-trade scenarios before he decided to rejoin the Bucks. The ESPN analyst also highlighted that Milwaukee held Trent Jr.’s Bird rights due to his prior back-to-back deals with the club, allowing the Bucks to offer a lucrative contract without losing him to other teams in the early negotiation window. Trent Jr. originally joined Milwaukee on a league-minimum deal in the summer of 2024, then signed a two-year, $7.5 million pact ahead of last season that included a player option for the upcoming year.
In the 2024-25 season, the veteran guard appeared in 65 games for Milwaukee, starting 21 of them. He posted averages of 8.1 points, 1.0 rebound, 1.2 assists, and 21.2 minutes per game, while shooting 41% from the field and 39% from three-point range. His return adds another guard option for the Bucks, but it also creates a crowded backcourt. Milwaukee had already added several guards in the offseason, trading for Tyler Herro and Caris LeVert, and re-signing Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr. The team then continued to bolster the position by selecting Brayden Burries with the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft.
The size of Trent Jr.’s four-year deal has drawn attention. ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported that Trent Jr. will earn $15.2 million in the first year of the contract. Based on the terms he signed and the reported Year 1 salary, Trent Jr. is projected to be among Milwaukee’s higher-paid players for the upcoming season, yet his role may be more about depth and rotation than a primary offensive engine unless his usage expands significantly.
So far this offseason, Trent Jr. ranks among the higher-valued free-agent contracts, with several players receiving more lucrative deals in the aggregate. CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn noted that only Trae Young, Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler, Ayo Dosunmu, Tari Eason, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Coby White earned more than Trent Jr. among free agents, underscoring the contract’s relative heft in the broader market.
Skepticism about the deal has emerged from some corners of the basketball world. The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie questioned the value, suggesting that the contract may be misaligned with Trent Jr.’s production, citing his average of 8 points per game on 39% shooting over roughly 22 minutes per contest last season. As with many big-money moves, time will tell whether Trent Jr. fulfills the expectations attached to a four-year, $64 million commitment in Milwaukee’s system.