Bucks Give Second Ten-Day Deal to PG Brandon Jennings

The Milwaukee Bucks are expected to sign point guard Brandon Jennings to a second 10-day contract on Wednesday, reports Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated.

Today was the final day of Jennings’ first 10-day pact with the team, and clock will start all over again when the Bucks play host to the Los Angeles Clippers. That means the conclusion of Jennings’ second 10-day deal will fall on March 31, with the Bucks likely to sign the veteran point guard for the remainder of the season at that point, assuming Jennings doesn’t get hurt.

Jennings signed with the Bucks on March 11 after playing for the Wisconsin Herd, the team’s G-League affiliate. He  signed a contract with the G-League following his return from China, and Wisconsin claimed him off waivers on February 13. Jennings averaged 21.4 points, 7.6 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game with the Herd.

What makes this run of 10-day contracts sweet for Jennings is the fact that he gets to play or the Bucks again. He spent the first four years of his NBA career with the team after being selected 10th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft. Since returning to the Bucks, he has served in a backup point guard role to Eric Bledsoe, meaning that his four games coming off the bench for the Bucks in 2017-2018 exceed the two bench games he had from 2009-2013.

In his first NBA game in nearly a full-year against the Memphis Grizzlies on March 12, Jennings nearly recorded a triple double by recording 16 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds. Jennings played 24 minutes that game, which is still the most minutes he’s played in Joe Prunty’s rotation. Jennings said after that game that he was fatigued from playing those minutes right off the bat, as he was expected to be a minutes restriction that game. When Bledsoe found himself in foul trouble, the restriction was kind of thrown out of the window, and with the way Jennings was playing, it made sense to let things play out.

It’s unclear what Jennings’ role with the Bucks will be when guards Malcolm Brogdon and Matthew Dellavedova return from injury. It’s possible that Brogdon could be throttled into the starting lineup replacing Tony Snell, but Dellavedova would likely be the team’s primary backup point guard in that scenario. Jennings could potentially take minutes away from Jason Terry, Sterling Brown, and Thon Maker once Brogdon and Dellavedova return.

Jennings is averaging 6 points, 5.5 assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game so far in his return to the NBA, while shooting 47% from the field and 33% from three.

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