Nearly two weeks into free agency, the Milwaukee Bucks have made their biggest free agent signing of the offseason by agreeing to a one-year contract with guard Gary Trent Jr., a league source confirmed to The AthleticThe signing was first reported by ESPN.
Trent played in 71 games with the Toronto Raptors last season and started 41 of those appearances. The 25-year-old guard averaged 13.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 28.1 minutes per game while shooting 39.3 percent from three-point range on 6.4 three-point attempts per game.
Heading into the offseason as a second-tier team, the Bucks had only veteran minimum contracts at their disposal. After waiting out the market, they were able to grab a starting-level guard at this point in free agency.
Trent has the shooting ability and size to be a real asset to the Bucks and fit right into the starting five with the rest of the team’s core. The six-year NBA veteran will also be reunited with former teammate Damian Lillard, who Trent played alongside for the entire two and a half seasons of his career as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Trent may be disappointed that he didn’t get a bigger deal this offseason, but landing in Milwaukee will give him a great opportunity to compete for a title with the Bucks and potentially increase his value next offseason. The Bucks’ last two starting guards, Grayson Allen and Malik Beasley, were both able to parlay their roles with the Bucks into bigger deals elsewhere and Trent will try to do the same.
His signing represents a major win for the Bucks in free agency. Players of Trent’s caliber and age don’t typically sign minimum contracts, but the NBA landscape has been dramatically altered by the new collective bargaining agreement.
After 2 1/2 weeks, the Bucks have found a player who can start at shooting guard for them next season and one of the top 10 free agents at the position this offseason. (THE Athletic(John Hollinger ranked Trent as the seventh-best free agent back at the start of the summer.)
While Trent isn’t on the same defensive end as the Bucks’ first free agent signing (Delon Wright), he has much more offensive potential. On top of that, Trent has shown the ability to be a disruptive defensive player off the ball, averaging 1.4 steals per game as a Toronto Raptor, though that number could be slightly inflated playing in a turnover-hunting defensive system.
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