NBA podcaster Nate Duncan calls Gary Trent Jr. contract ‘obvious’ salary cap circumvention

One of the stranger deals of the NBA offseason emerged over the weekend when Milwaukee gave reserve guard Gary Trent Jr. $64 million guaranteed over four years.

The deal drew a sarcastic tweet from Bill Simmons calling it a “steal” and added to a miserable summer for Bucks fans, who just saw the franchise trade away its cornerstone player, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

But it was popular NBA podcaster Nate Duncan who expressed the strongest skepticism toward the contract, calling it “obvious” salary cap circumvention and urging the league to punish the Bucks.

“Gary Trent getting 4/$64 after the year he just had is obvious circumvention and should be punished by the league,” Duncan wrote on X. “This would fall under the provision that there is no possible explanation other than circumvention.”

Gary Trent getting 4/$64 after the year he just had is obvious circumvention and should be punished by the league. This would fall under the provision that there is no possible explanation other than circumvention.

— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) July 11, 2026

The reason this could be considered cap circumvention and not merely a stupid contract is that the Bucks signed Trent to veteran-minimum contracts each of the past two seasons in order to own his “Larry Bird rights,” which allow teams to give players larger raises and go over the salary cap to sign a player.

Trent’s contract timeline with Milwaukee is similar to that of perhaps the NBA’s most infamous cap circumvention scandal, with Minnesota and Joe Smith. In that case, the Timberwolves got caught putting it in writing that they would give Smith a larger payday years in the future. But Duncan believes the Bucks effectively did the same here with Trent.

Answering a follower’s question about whether Milwaukee might truly believe Trent was going to bounce back, Duncan doubled down and called the deal “the most ridiculous contract in NBA history.”

“If you have a player that the market doesn’t value that you do at 4/$64, then you’re happy to pay him less,” Duncan wrote. “It’s the most ridiculous contract in NBA history.”

Maybe they do (they don’t). But there’s also this thing called the market. If you have a player that the market doesn’t value that you do at 4/$64, then you’re happy to pay him less. It’s the most ridiculous contract in NBA history. https://t.co/e7xDL2tKk2

— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) July 13, 2026

Almost all of the cap space had dried up around the NBA by the time Trent received this deal, weakening his market considerably. And despite a season in which he shot 39 percent from the field off the bench for a Bucks team that missed the playoffs, Trent will make nearly five-times more next season under the new contract.

Given the scrutiny toward NBA teams and the salary cup amid the league’s investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers and Kawhi Leonard, the questions raised by Duncan may be treated more seriously than they would have even a few years ago.