MILWAUKEE – Stop the presses, Brandon Jennings is unhappy and wants out of Milwaukee.
Is anybody buying that?
The Milwaukee Bucks' point guard raised a bit of a storm Thursday when he made comments to ESPN.com suggesting that he would look elsewhere, preferably a big-market, when his rookie contract with Milwaukee expires.
The funny thing about that is Jennings' contract, signed in 2009 after he was drafted 10th overall by the Bucks, doesn't expire until after next season. Even then, there's no guarantee Jennings will bolt for greener pastures since the Bucks hold a qualifying offer for the 2013-14 season that essentially makes Jennings a restricted free agent and gives Milwaukee the right to match any offer he receives from another team.
And never mind the fact that beginning this summer, Milwaukee can offer Jennings a contract extension, not unlike teams did for Chris Paul and Dwight Howard – two players who have moved on or are trying to move onto bigger markets – before their rookie contracts expired.
Contrary to belief, Jennings has nothing against Milwaukee. He's happy here. He has been hired to do a job here. He knows the reality of the situation and isn't pouting or throwing a fit. In fact, he's doing what anybody would do in his situation: keeping an open mind to a better opportunity down the road but still focusing on the task at hand.
Isn't that how things work in the real world, too?
"Anybody with a job, you're going to keep your options open … just in general," Jennings said on Saturday before the Bucks' 99-94 loss to Orlando at the Bradley Center. "That doesn't mean I'm trying to leave or anything like that. It's keeping my options open. You never know what the future holds."
The bottom line is this: Jennings isn't going anywhere any time soon. Worrying about something that could happen two years from now is simply a waste of time.
Jennings, who was in the mix for an All-Star spot but didn't make the cut, has more important things on his mind these days.
"We're trying to make the playoffs," said Jennings, whose team is 12-15 and a half-game out of the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference. "I didn't make the All-Star team; now I have something to look forward to that means more to the city, and that's making the playoffs."
With that said, Bucks fans need to forget about his comments for a moment and focus on what's important: His production and more specifically, his lack thereof in the last week or so.
Until recently, Jennings was the Bucks' most consistent performer. He was averaging more than 20 points per game and his numbers were impressive enough for coaches around the league to take notice of an uptick in his game this season.
In the past five games, though, Jennings has scored in double digits just twice, and if you remove his 24 points and eight assists against Cleveland on Friday night, he averaged just 7.3 points and 4.5 assists in the other four games.
Those are not the numbers of a player looking to prove All-Star voters wrong. Nor are those the numbers needed to lead this team back into the playoffs as Jennings pledged is his goal for the season.
Still, when looking at his entire body of work this season, there is reason for Bucks fans to be pleased, and he received an extra-loud ovation Saturday night after returning home for the first time since his comments. Milwaukee fans don't want to lose a player who has shown marked improvement with his shot. A 37.1 percent shooter as a rookie, Jennings is connecting at a 42.2 percent clip this season. It's far from the ideal for a point guard but ahead of where he was even a year ago (39.0 percent).
Jennings is 22, and he's still getting better -- the past week notwithstanding.
"He's struggled somewhat lately," Bucks head coach Scott Skiles said. "We need all of our guys to play well, especially our key players."
Skiles is right. But the point guard sets the tone for the team, and for the Bucks to be their best, they need Jennings to step up and put the team on his shoulders.
Last year, on the way home from a season-ending victory at Oklahoma City, Jennings had a lengthy conversation with then-teammate Michael Redd. The veteran and the second-year point guard talked about a number of things, including this becoming Jennings' team and his time to be "the man."
With center Andrew Bogut on the sideline for the foreseeable future, Jennings more than ever has the chance to make that point right now.
As for the future … well, that's a discussion that's just not worth having right now. This is Jennings' time to shine, and the Bucks really need him to do so.
