MILWAUKEE — Just 25 years old, Gary Trent Jr. has established himself as a reliable double-figure scorer and one of the NBA’s best outside shooters. That the Milwaukee Bucks could sign him to a veteran’s minimum contract this summer stands as one of the biggest steals of free agency.

At 6-foot-5, the former Duke star can play shooting guard and small forward, giving Milwaukee options with its first and second units. Trent Jr.’s career 39 percent accuracy on three-pointers could add even more firepower to a Bucks team that ranked fourth last season in effective field goal percentage.

Here are three benchmarks for Trent Jr. in 2024-25 that could be predictors of success.

Trent Jr. has achieved this benchmark twice in his six NBA seasons, and there are good reasons to think he can do it this year:

Effective three-point shooting spaces the floor and keeps defenses honest. Trent Jr.’s success will make life easier for the Bucks offense.

As much as Milwaukee will need to rely on his perimeter shooting, they also will need Trent Jr. to cover up Lillard’s defensive deficiencies by taking on the tougher guard matchups.

Having gained a reputation as a gambler on defense, Trent Jr. twice averaged better than 1.5 steals in Toronto. Only six players averaged 1.5 or more steals per game last season.

At 6-foot-5 with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, Trent Jr. is lengthy enough to disrupt passing lanes and rack up deflections. He has averaged 1.2 steals per game across his seven-year playing career.

This benchmark will depend on playing time and shot selection.

Trent Jr. twice took 200-plus free throws and made 83% or better, but he also averaged four to six more minutes on court than his career average. Last year while averaging 28 minutes a night — his lowest figure in five seasons — Trent Jr. shot more threes than twos and, as might be expected, fewer than 100 free throws.

So the more reasonable goal could be the free-throw accuracy, which will help.

Since 2017-18, the Bucks have found themselves in the bottom half of the league in team free-throw percentage. The biggest part of that is Giannis, who has averaged 70 percent during his 11-year career.

Free throws made and missed are often the difference in close games. As a career 81.9 percent free-throw shooter, Trent Jr. joins Lillard (92 percent in 2023-24) and Middleton (83.3 percent in 2023-24) as trusted ballhandlers at crunch time.

For his six seasons, Trent Jr. has connected on 83 percent of his free throws twice. It’s doable, but in this offense 200 attempts may be a long shot.

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team recently completed a deployment in support of the Milwaukee Police Department, one of the lead agencies responsible for coordination of all public safety activity during the Republican National Convention.

The Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team’s preparations for this event started more than 18 months ago and required close collaboration with local, state and federal public safety agencies to identify the unique needs of the supported agencies and match the right Verizon Frontline solutions to these needs. This partnership helped ensure that first responders had the mission-critical communications capabilities they needed as they worked to ensure the safety of Milwaukee’s residents and the thousands of visitors in the city for the event.

At the request of the Milwaukee Police Department, the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team delivered more than 900 Verizon Frontline solutions ranging from smartphones loaded with public safety-specific applications to deployable communications assets like Satellite Picocells on Trailers (SPOTs).

The Milwaukee Police Department used a network of 725 of these solutions to help develop a Common Operational Picture (COP) during the convention. A COP is a single, relevant display of operational information shared by multiple agencies. The Milwaukee Police were able to do this using Verizon Frontline-provided 5G smartphones, the Verizon network and a Team Awareness Kit (TAK) application. This app shows the exact location and names of the thousands of officers involved in an operation of this scale and enables them each to share pictures, reports, drone locations, and more, all on one map.

The partnership during the convention represents a continuation of the strong relationship between Verizon Frontline and the Milwaukee Police Department. Verizon Frontline serves as the primary wireless partner for the department, responsible for squad car connectivity and a total of more than 800 voice and data lines in service.

The Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team also provided support to the public safety agencies tasked with ensuring public safety during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

“For more than three decades we’ve worked with public safety agencies like the Milwaukee Police Department to ensure they have the mission-critical communications capabilities they need to achieve their missions,” said Russ Anderson, senior director of sales for Verizon Public Sector’s central region. “The work of the Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team in Milwaukee recently is just another example of how we go above and beyond to support our partners on the front lines.”

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The Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team is able to provide on-demand, emergency assistance during crisis situations to government agencies and first responders, on a 24/7 basis at no cost to the supported agencies. Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team members set up portable cell sites, WiFi hotspots, free charging stations and other Verizon Frontline devices and solutions that enable communications and/or boost network performance.

Verizon Frontline is the advanced network and technology built for first responders – developed over three decades of partnership with public safety officials and agencies on the front lines – to meet their unique and evolving needs.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) powers and empowers how its millions of customers live, work and play, delivering on their demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity and security. Headquartered in New York City, serving countries worldwide and nearly all of the Fortune 500, Verizon generated revenues of $134.0 billion in 2023. Verizon’s world-class team never stops innovating to meet customers where they are today and equip them for the needs of tomorrow. For more, visit verizon.com or find a retail location at verizon.com/stores.

VERIZON’S ONLINE MEDIA CENTER: News releases, stories, media contacts and other resources are available at verizon.com/news. News releases are also available through an RSS feed. To subscribe, visit www.verizon.com/about/rss-feeds/.

Media contact:
Eric Durie
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516-382-8219

Milwaukee-based law firm Rienhart Boerner Van Deuren is planning to add high-visibility signage to the downtown office tower at 1000 N. Water St. The 16-story-tall building has long been the site of the firm’s headquarters.

According to a permit filed with the City of Milwaukee, the firm is considering signage on the building’s south and west rooflines. The sign on the south side of the building would be about 34 feet wide and 7 feet tall, and the sign on the west side of the building would be about 29 feet long and 6 feet tall, according to plans submitted to the city. Sign rendering from Elevated Identity

The plans were prepared by Janesville-based Elevated Identity, which has worked on numerous signage projects including signs for Milwaukee Tool’s downtown office, the Pabst Theater and multiple Summerfest stages.

A Rienhart representative confirmed that the firm is considering signage for the 1000 North Water Street building, but declined to comment further.

The company, which has eight other offices nationwide, has been a tenant at 1000 N. Water St. since 1992 and most recently renewed its lease for 84,000 square feet in 2020.

If the signs are added, Reinhart would join other downtown law firms like Quarles & Brady, Von Briesen & Roper and Husch Blackwell that have erected signs on the downtown Milwaukee multitenant office towers that they are located in.

Signage on downtown Milwaukee buildings was the subject of a recent BizTimes magazine feature.

Rendering from Elevated Identity