Brandon Jennings has agreed to a one-year deal with the New York Knicks. A fresh start for Jennings could lead to an even bigger deal next summer.
Brandon Jennings has agreed to a one-year, $5 million deal with the New York Knicks, according to CSN Chicago‘s Vincent Goodwill.
Jennings, 26, was the 10th overall pick of the 2006 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Since then he has played with the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic throughout his seven-year career.
Jennings was electric early on in his career, lighting opponents up for 50-point games. It wasn’t until he was acquired by the Pistons that his game evolved.
With Stan Van Gundy in Detroit, Jennings was molded from a scorer to a playmaking scorer. The potential has always been there for Jennings to will his team to a win, but adding the ability to dish out to his teammates became even easier.
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Jennings was playing the best basketball of his career before he suffered a left Achilles tear in January 2015. The Pistons were 9-4 during a 13-game stretch leading up to his injury, where he was shining.
He was scoring 20.9 points per game and passing the ball well, averaging 7.2 assists per game. During that stretch he was shooting 43.5 percent from the field and had a plus/minus of plus-10.3.
Just before he suffered his injury, Jennings was looking like the future star point guard for the Pistons and Van Gundy. His injury left a lot of questions of whether he could return to that same playing form, and still the questions are there.
Reggie Jackson was acquired by the Pistons and signed a five-year, $80 million extension last summer. He is now the star point guard for Detroit and is the future.
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Moving forward, Jennings would be traded to the Magic, where he didn’t play all that well. In his 48 combined games between the Pistons and Magic, Jennings was averaging 6.9 points and 3.5 assists per game while playing 18.1 minutes per game.
The Knicks have had Jennings on their radar for awhile, even before he came back from his injury. Last December the Knicks reportedly had interest in acquiring Jennings in a trade before he stepped on the court.
Now the Knicks have Jennings, who is looking for a fresh start and a new opportunity. He will have the entire offseason to prepare for the upcoming NBA season.
Additionally, he will have the opportunity to come off the bench with a second unit where he can create as a playmaker or as a scorer.
Jennings is gambling on himself by signing a one-year deal. If he gets an opportunity to start over Derrick Rose, or if Rose gets injured, Jennings could spark his value for next summer’s free agency period.
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With a full offseason to get healthy and up to speed for a full NBA season, he has all the opportunity to set himself up for a strong 2016-17 season and to get paid next July.