Good news and strange news for members of the Brotherhood on Contract Watch:
First, the good news, as Isaiah Evans has signed a four-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The first three years are guaranteed, while the fourth is a team option.
That’s pretty decent for a second-round pick, and also shows faith and commitment on the part of the T-Wolves.
Gary Trent signed a $64 million dollar deal to stay with the Bucks last week, and unbeknownst to us, it set off alarm bells around the league.
Basically, the accusation is this: Trent and Milwaukee had a handshake deal as long as they were trying to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo. And of course they failed ultimately.
So they gave Trent a massive raise, quadrupling his salary after a mediocre year.
That’s the idea, anyway, but it doesn’t really make sense. This is no knock on Trent, but he didn’t exactly light the league on fire last season, and while he’s a useful player, he’s not a top-tier resource. If they were going to do that, you’d think they’d pay a bigger talent.
Of course, sometimes management does stupid things. We’d like to take this moment to remember James Dolan’s insane infatuation with Isiah Thomas as one reminder.
But we can’t see a reason why they would assign such an irrational market value to Trent. It just doesn’t make much sense if they’re trying to defeat the cap.