On August 1, the Milwaukee Bucks officially waived point guard Brandon Jennings after signing him to a multi-year deal in the middle of last season.
Brandon Jennings was a high school basketball legend out of Oak Hill Academy. In 2008, he averaged 35.5 points per game and was named the Naismith Prep Player of the Year as a result. Following his high school career, Jennings decided to not attend college and played professionally in Europe instead for one season before taking his talents to the NBA.
Jennings was selected with the tenth overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and was expected to be the face of the franchise for years to come. In just his seventh NBA game, Jennings set the franchise record for points in a single game after scoring an absurd 55 points against the Golden State Warriors despite going scoreless in the first quarter. Jennings finished his rookie season averaging 15.5 points per game as he looked like a future star in the NBA.
Jennings continued to play for the Bucks until the 2013-14 season when he was traded to the Detroit Pistons for Brandon Knight, Khris Middleton and Viacheslav Kravtsov. During his five seasons in Milwaukee, Jennings averaged 16.5 points per game along with 5.6 assists. Despite being an offensive threat, Jennings was awfully inefficient due to his questionable shot selection and high volume of shots per game. Jennings shot roughly 39% from the floor during those five seasons with Milwaukee which is partially why the Bucks refused to commit to him long-term.
After being in Detroit for three seasons, Jennings bounced around the league with the Knicks, the Magic, and the Wizards before returning to the Bucks in the middle of last season. Jennings finished the season with the Bucks and was expected to compete for minutes off the bench in the upcoming season. However, the Bucks decided to move on without him and waived him on August 1.
Whether Jennings ever plays in the NBA again is irrelevant when evaluating his impact on Milwaukee basketball. Jennings provided a lot of excitement to the Bucks as a young NBA player and he was even traded for Khris Middleton who is still a crucial to the team’s current roster. Although he will never get his jersey retired by the Bucks organization, true fans will never forget him.
The Bucks used the open roster spot to sign guard Pat Connaughton who spent the last three seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers.