Bucks suddenly have reason to sweat NBA investigation after Clippers punishment

The Clippers have already been found guilty of circumventing the NBA’s salary-cap rules.

Now the Bucks are waiting to find out whether the league believes they broke those rules, too.

And after what happened to Los Angeles, the Bucks probably have reason to pay particularly close attention.

The NBA launched an investigation into Milwaukee this summer surrounding Gary Trent Jr.’s new four-year, $64 million contract, as noted by Blake Silverman of Sports Illustrated.

Trent initially joined the Bucks on a veteran minimum contract two years ago, then returned on a two-year, $7.6 million deal last offseason. He declined a $3.9 million player option this summer before receiving the considerably larger contract from Milwaukee.

The question is whether there was any sort of improper agreement involving those contracts. Nothing has been established, and there’s no indication yet that the Bucks’ situation approaches what the NBA found in its investigation of the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard.

Still, the timing is interesting.

Los Angeles just lost five first-round picks and received a $30 million fine, among several other penalties, after the league concluded that the Clippers circumvented the salary cap.

There’s also some history here. The Timberwolves originally lost five first-round picks in 2000 after the NBA uncovered an improper agreement involving Joe Smith, although two were eventually returned.

That doesn’t mean Milwaukee is next in line for the same treatment.

But if nothing else, the Clippers case just provided a fairly dramatic reminder of how seriously the NBA is willing to punish teams if it determines they circumvented the cap.

The Bucks’ investigation suddenly looks a little more interesting than it did a week ago.