Just when it seemed likely that free agent point guard Brandon Jennings and the Milwaukee Bucks would settle their differences and agree on a one year qualifying offer, the team pulled a somewhat unexpected deal yesterday sending the 23 year old to the Detroit Pistons in a sign and trade deal.
Jennings agreed to sign a three year/$24 million deal with the Pistons . In exchange the Bucks obtained guard Brandon Knight, forward Khris Middleton and center Viacheslav Kravtsov.
Which team is this deal better for?
The verdict on who “won” this deal won’t really be out until after the 2013-2014 season is complete because there are so many questions surrounding both team’s acquisitions and how they will fit in with their new roster. Can Brandon Knight become the future starting point guard for the Bucks or will the Bucks use him as trade bait? Or, how will Jennings and newly acquired free agent forward Josh Smith fare in Detroit with only one basketball? So, we have to wait and see how the season plays out before truly determining who got the better end of deal in this trade.
How does this deal effect the Bucks?
First off for Milwaukee: it’s no secret that replacing Jennings and his 17.5 ppg and 6.5 apg averages will be very hard. In addition to this, Jennings was the closest thing that the Bucks had to a “franchise player” the last couple of seasons and in a day in age where the NBA is all about stardom this could have a negative affect on the fan base for Milwaukee.
On the flip-side of this, the Bucks could gain a few things from dealing Jennings. Now that he is gone, the Bucks will have more financial flexibility for the rest of this offseason. In addition, the offseason of 2014, the Bucks could now go after some big name free agents to team up with recently acquired guard OJ Mayo as well as an up and coming front court of Larry Sanders and John Henson.
Finally, the loss of Jennings could bring the team closer together now that Jennings and the attention that he garners is gone. Think of it as something like a small scale version of the Chicago Bulls and how they came together without Derrick Rose. In any case, the loss of Jennings will have a big impact on the team. What kind of impact remains to be seen.
Until next time, Beer, Brats, and Championships.
- Tom Brown (@TABrown23)
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