The 2017-18 Milwaukee Bucks season saw the unlikely return of Brandon Jennings, who resumed his NBA career midway through the year following stints overseas and with the Wisconsin Herd.
Among the more surreal moments of the Milwaukee Bucks’ unpredictable season this year was the improbable return of former Buck, Brandon Jennings.
In what’s become well-covered lore at this point, Jennings fell out of the league after the 2016-17 year following a disappointing and dispiriting stint with the Washington Wizards, who he joined midway through the season after he was waived by the New York Knicks.
With his career having gone completely sideways after being struck by a ruptured Achilles tendon in January of 2015, an injury that took place in the BMO Harris Bradley Center, Jennings sought a move to China during last year’s offseason:
More from Bucks News
- Bucks 2023-24 player profile: Can MarJon Beauchamp take a leap?
- Piecing together the Milwaukee Bucks’ dream starting 5 in 5 years
- Predicting Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s 2023-24 stats for the Bucks
- Grade the trade: Bucks land reputable backup guard in swap with Pacers
- New workout video should have Milwaukee Bucks fans excited
The Compton-born Jennings’ reasoning was simple as he relayed to Ray Bala of Bleacher Report in earlier this year:
"“The Achilles injury was one of the toughest times of my life,” Jennings says. “I couldn’t really do the things I was able to do before. Being in China … being away from the world just helped me out. It was my second time playing outside the country, and I … was able to get back to playing basketball and having fun again and not worrying about anything.”"
While overseas, key Bucks officials like first-year general manager Jon Horst and Wisconsin Herd GM and Bucks vice president of basketball operations Dave Dean were tracking and following what Jennings was doing as a member of the Shanxi Brave Dragons.
Once Jennings was granted his release by the Brave Dragons in mid-December, it was Dean who pushed the idea of pursuing a move to potentially bring the nine-year NBA veteran back to the organization by adding him to the Herd as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Lori Nickel expertly detailed here in mid-March.
That move came to pass in the middle of February when Jennings was brought in off waivers and was immediately slotted in as the Herd’s starting point guard.
But with the Bucks thin at the point guard position following the midseason injuries to both Malcolm Brogdon and Matthew Dellavedova, Jennings was able to parlay his short stay in Oshkosh into a call-up to the Bucks nearly a month later where he stayed with the team for the duration of their season.
So without further ado, let’s reflect back on Brandon Jennings’ return to Milwaukee, look back on the highs and lows he had with the Bucks as well as the Herd, and examine what this summer holds for him.