According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the National Basketball Association is set to launch an investigation into Gary Trent Jr. and the Milwaukee Bucks regarding the new agreement between the two sides on the four-year, $64 million contract.

The NBA has confirmed they’ll be “continuing to look into” the contract and if anything shady occurred behind closed doors. They view this as possible salary cap circumvention, plus their collective bargaining agreement contains a clause against “prior agreement.”

Trent’s $64 million deal follows two successive seasons playing for Milwaukee at the veteran’s minimum.

The last time the NBA stepped in, investigated, and handed out punishments for this type of alleged behavior was back in 2000 with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Joe Smith. The league proved that both sides signed a written, illegal secret agreement that promised Smith a multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract extension after he had played three seasons on minimum contracts for the organization.

The punishments handed out were penalties and voided a contract; if Trent Jr. and Milwaukee were to be found guilty, then they would most definitely receive some of the same treatment. The extent of the punishment is unknown, as investigation is still pending, but many speculate it would follow the same rules as the Joe Smith situation 26 years ago.

The 27-year-old opted out of his player option to become a free agent this offseason and is set to earn $15.2 million this upcoming regular season.

In a blockbuster trade late Monday night, per the reporting of ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Milwaukee Bucks have traded Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat for Tyler Herro and a load of players and picks, including this upcoming draft’s 13th overall pick.

Miami gave Milwaukee Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, three first-round picks, one pick swap, and one second rounder. This was significantly more than the Boston Celtics trade offer; Brad Stevens only offered them two first-round picks and Jaylen Brown.

After declining to go with Boston’s offer, Jon Horst and Andy Elisburg got to work finalizing the trade agreement. Fans will now see Bam Adebayo teaming up with two-time MVP, one-time Finals winner Antetokounmpo.

The reason why Milwaukee did not go with Boston’s offer is simple: they preferred the flexibility of controlled contracts and future draft picks over a single superstar player with limited draft picks. Flexibility in planning and financially played a huge role in their decision making.

For Antetokounmpo, the 31-year-old has been linked to the Heat’s organization since 2020 – before winning the 2021 NBA Finals with the Bucks. This got canned when Milwaukee made the Jrue Holiday trade and he then signed the supermax contract.

Last offseason, Antetokounmpo wanted to be traded to the New York Knicks, asked the Bucks to make it happen, but nothing serious came of it. This last postseason, fans saw New York win their first NBA championship since 1973 – 53 years ago.

After 13 seasons with the Bucks, Giannis became a franchise legend by being their all-time leader in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and games played. Plus, winning them their franchise’s second-ever championship, breaking the 50-year drought they had. After the Finals concluded, Adam Silver presented Antetokounmpo with the Finals MVP. On top of that impressive resume, not forgetting two MVPs (2019, 2020), he was also a ten-time All-Star under the Bucks.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Giannis Antetokounmpo is widely expected to reject the idea of opting into a long-term commitment to the Milwaukee Bucks, which would signal an end of an era between the two sides.

Even with the two sides meeting in the coming weeks, the probability of Antetokounmpo signing the four-year, $275 million extension with the Bucks is seen as low. While the extension couldn’t officially be signed until October, the front office would need his commitment in June.

The higher ups have already called for a resolution to happen before the NBA draft, which begins on June 23rd. Plus, they have already opened the gates on hearing out offers regarding the 31-year-old.

A handful of teams ranging from the Golden State Warriors to the Miami Heat are reportedly expected to show legitimate interest in the two-time MVP and one-time NBA Finals champion.

“Any conversation that the Bucks are going to have with Giannis Antetokounmpo, from my understanding, is going to be a very simple one: ‘Do you want to stay here long-term and commit long-term in June?'” Charania said on the Pat McAfee Show on Monday.

“The answer, from all accounts, is going to be ‘no.’ And at that point, the question is going to be: where does Giannis want to go? Where does he want to play for and commit long-term? Because he’s got just one guaranteed year left on his deal. You guys know this; especially in the NBA, that gives a player of this caliber a ton of leverage—a ton of sway on where he ends up.”