Friday, February 10th, 2012 at 9:00 am  |  92 responses

Brandon Jennings Thinking About Playing in a Bigger Market


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Brandon Jennings is having the best season of his NBA career, but the 22-year old Milwaukee Bucks point guard is doing it in relative obscurity.

As a result, Jennings says that he’s considering the possibility of signing with a bigger market team once his rookie deal expires.

Jennings claims that he’s very happy with the situation in Milwaukee, but as a business man, he’s gotta seriously evaluate what opportunities exist elsewhere.

Reports ESPN:

“I am going to keep my options open, knowing that the time is coming up,” Jennings said. “I’m doing my homework on big market teams.” Jennings, 22, is in his third NBA season and will be eligible to sign a long-term contract extension with Milwaukee this summer. While he has not established himself as an All-Star or maximum-salaried player, he’s led the Bucks in scoring the past two seasons and currently has them in playoff contention despite the loss of center Andrew Bogut to injury. [...] “I’m not saying I won’t (sign an extension with the Bucks) and I’m not saying I will,” he said. “I’m just keeping my options open.”

“When you start seeing other players like Dwight Howard or CP3, you start thinking,” said Jennings. [...] “It has nothing to do with the city of Milwaukee or anything like that because that’s where I started my career,” Jennings said. “They’ve been nothing but good to me. (Coach) Scott Skiles and (general manager) John Hammond have been good to me. It’s just that I’m understanding the business of basketball now.”

Brandon Jennings didn’t achieve his dream of making the All-Star team this season, which might be part of his anxiety about playing in such a small market.

The new CBA makes it so that Milwaukee can offer Brandon Jennings the most money with his next contract, but they’ll have to work extra-hard to convince him that it’s the place for him to continue with his basketball career.

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  • AL

    Brandon Jennings is the MOST underrated player in the NBA today… one of the fastest guys out there .

  • marc

    You can see this both ways. If he goes to a big market team he’s going to have to take a backseat to somebody but might have a chance at a ring. But if he stays in Milwaukee he’s going to be the star there but won’t really have a chance at a ring. I see it as if you play outstanding in Milwaukee or anywhere it won’t go unnoticed.

  • t-sizzle

    it’s not that he wants the ring. he just wants national spotlight so that he can be an all-star. honestly, that is kind of disappointing to me, because his focus should be on playing better, playing more consistent. even in a big market, there will be no guarantee he will perform well, depending on his teammates. he might (or might not) have been snubbed this year, but this kind of mentality needs to change.

  • http://www.newyorkshockexchange.com Shock Exchange

    “AAU-ization” of the NBA. (i) Play with a team where you learn and develop or (ii) play with a team where you can travel for free, play high profile events and get exposure.

  • T-Money

    (iii) play with a team where you can travel for free, play high profile events, get exposure, learn and develop. / seriously, people should stop using tired old clichés and actually THINK. the skill level in the nba is tremendous right now. most guys over 6’9 barely knew how to dribble and shoot before the 90s. shooting was NOT better in the early 90s and the 80s – it was worse.

  • riz

    Small market teams seemed like they gained nothing from the lockout, maybe I don’t know everything that was in the paper work, but it seems like nothing was done to actually protect the product they put on the floor. I can’t knock a player for going for the big market appeal, its just discouraging when you live in a small market area.

  • T-Money

    when jennings says bigger market… what he really mean is cooler city. his favourite spot in the nba is toronto – which is the 4th biggest city in north america but not a big nba market. he also said numerous times that he loves atlanta – again, not a big nba market. dude is just bored to death in milwaukee.

  • T-Money

    riz: it’s not about the size of the market but how desirable the city is. miami, phoenix and orlando are not big markets but never have problems signing guys – nba players want to live there. sh-tty cities have 3 ways to get better: 1- draft well. 2- trade well. 3- convince your key guys to re-up by having a plan. dipping in the free agent market for premium talent is just never an option, not even for okc, san antonio or utah. there is nothing that is going to change that short of banning free agency (and the nbapa would take the nba to court over that).

  • T-Money

    and before you say that love, durant, westbrook, rose are not like that, all they did was re-up on their rookie deals. everybody does that… bron, cp3, melo, bosh, amare, dwight all did that. the real test is if you can keep your star after his 7th or 8th year. so all in all, unless you really mess up (and even the wolves didn’t mess up enough), a small market team gets to keep its superstar for at least 7 years – what’s not fair about that?

  • Will Lee

    why NBA stars like to play in big cities when they travel most of the time anyways? They could still live in the coolest condo in Milwaukee and have girls in for house parties also

  • http://www.reverbnation.com/tray24 T-Ray

    Please come to LA and replace Derek I need more icey hot Fisher! Then again he probably wouldn’t pass much so never mind.

  • http://stapledesign.com Spaceship Jay

    Make Milwaukee a big market yourself.

  • Ev

    All this ‘bigger market team’ stuff is getting really really old. Your already a millionaire why do you care about another million. Whoever on here said that all he wants to be is an allstar is completely right. People like Brandon Jennings are the reasons why people in basketball are caring more and more about money than winning

  • T-Money

    ev: why do you feel so comfortable telling other people to leave money on the table?

  • …

    the only bigger market that would want him would be toronto. No one wants a pg who just chucks all the time, and most of the time he has a broken jumper

  • T-Money

    LA would take him yesterday.

  • waka2hehe

    after kobe retire
    here comes jennings with yellow purple jersey!

  • shutup

    Its not about the money of a bigger market, its harder to make an all-star team in the smaller markets, he should have made it this year, and who is anyone to tell this man what his dreams should be. Maybe one of his life goals is to be an all-star, thats what it sounded like to me, btw who was the last all-star to come outta Milwaukee? Ray Allen forever ago? maybe Vin Baker?

  • floe

    please bring jennings to toronto. calderon makes me sad everytime i watch him play.

  • DerekG

    He needs to think about playing well consistently. Dude has been in the L for 2 and a piece seasons, one of which was a bust, and he’s talking about a “bigger market”. I’m sure we can all name at least 5 pg’s better than him right now and we don’t even have to try to do that!

  • http://gmail dirty frank

    I don’t see that being on a different team would’ve made him an all-star. 19ppg and 5apg on a losing team.

  • Ldub

    Agreed with shutup. Too many people look down upon players for making moves for personal reasons. But isnt that what society has taught us to do? People working 9-5 upgrade to better jobs because of the opportunity it brings no? People will pick up their entire families and move to LA/Hollywood for a “dream”. Why is Jennings’ situation any different? Athletes are people first and ball players 2nd! Even if BJ3 never wins a ring….Moving out of the green and red to almost any team will give him more opportunity to do things he wants/desires/dreams to do. Its business, point blank!

  • l2ising Phoenix

    @Ldub, great point.

  • http://nyill.wordpress.com Enigmatic

    Not THIS sh*t again…
    Although I don’t blame him, Milwaukee is wack.

  • Kraw

    These small markets won’t see any benefits until next year. With that said, I think stars will take less money to leave a city that they don’t enjoy and have serious doubts about chip chances and little faith in front office management. And yeah, No one outside of Lebron and KD right now.

  • http://slamonline.com The Philosopher

    Agree with Spaceship Jay.

  • bull22

    learn from your counterpart aaron rodgers and stay and be patient. wisconsin fans are excellent fans to have backing you.

  • Ldub

    @spacejam jay….not that easy bro. Look at OKC. People can argue that “Durant” made that a marketable city. BUUUT you cant do it alone. He need Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka etc. Other than Bogut, who has good/decent market value for the Bucks? They need some more studs on BJ’s level to enhance that city. Nobody has made a city marketable by themselves.

  • Ldub

    winning=market

  • Mike From Spain

    Well, I don’t blame Brandon Jennings. I don’t like his playing style, but everyone has a right to get a better deal for whatever reasons ($$$, better city, go to hometown, win, etc)

  • robb

    He’s a great talent and he has all the right in the world to do what he thinks it’s best for him, but I’m not sure this was the best time for him to express his feelings.

  • Ldub

    @bull22…Rodgers situation is way different. GreenBay has been beast for years with Favre and then transfrd to Rodgers. He only had to live up to being on Favres level (which is huge shoes to fill). Plus football fans are way different than bball fans. Its not like Jennings is filling the shoes of a PG or leader before him. He came to a lowsy team and they are better but still no where near contender status.

  • bull22

    @ldub, true. the bucks were at the bottom of the rung before he came lol.

  • bnets

    sounds like melo

  • startown

    He is using himself in the same sentence as Dwight Howard? Wow, he is good, but not even a top 20 player. There are quite a few scoring point guards out there right now, and there will be more coming up in the draft, so his ability and value are nothing unique.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2012/02/brandon-jennings-thinking-about-playing-in-a-bigger-market/ Michael Herrera

    -TOO many ppl think he’s a superstar cuz of that 50 point game, he’s got talent but 2 inconsistent (I see his fantasy owners nodding)
    -If he goes 2 a bigger market he will be chewed apart, in Milwakee he shoots 40% & it’s not a big deal, in a big market it will be

  • bull22

    before you know it this will be a six team league with only chicago,miami,boston,new york,los angeles and philadelphia playing for championships. its ridiculous how this gangrene that lebron is spreading
    is affecting some of the players this year.. its a shame that no one can stay put and make this interesting like when the dream team was playing with their respective teams.

  • bull22

    before you know it this will be a six team league with only chicago,miami,boston,new york,los angeles and philadelphia playing for championships. its ridiculous how this gangrene that lebron is spreading
    is affecting some of the players this year.. its a shame that no one can stay put and make this interesting like when the dream team was playing with their respective teams.

  • Nella

    He’s just butthurt from the ASG snub – he’ll calm down in a minute.

  • Likemike

    blame it on lebron lol

  • http://sfklf.com Jukai

    Brandon Jennings shouldn’t just leave, the league should f’in make the Bucks vanish.

  • http://shinefluid@aol.com truth serum

    the market really doesnt matter when you’re winning

  • http://stapledesign.com Spaceship Jay

    Word to truth serum. Jennings can’t control Bogut’s health, but there are some pretty solid pieces in Milwaukee. They beat the Heat twice right? From what I saw it was due to consistent defense and tempo control. It is also forgotten that he almost eliminated the Hawks on his own. I think he should do his best to stay patient and consistent.

  • LA Huey

    You mean to tell me a kid from Compton doesn’t want to have a residence in Milwaukee? Shocking.

  • http://slamonline house

    I love watching Jennings play, he has guts and swag and doesn’t appear to back down from anyone.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    There used to be six teams in the League.
    And I’m surprised dude said this out loud. You know people got inferiority complexes. Should have kept these thoughts to himself.

  • -MAS-

    Send Melo to the Bucks for BJ! Come on! Do it!

  • bull22

    @allenp, i know there used to be six teams stupid… thats why i said it because of all these whiners that want to play in bigger markets, thanks for reminding me what an idiot you are, considering you write stories for some
    country paper in minnesota.

  • Red

    BJ just sucks, doesn’t matter where he goes.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Man Brandon Jennings and Bull22 share the same affinity for intelligent comments.

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