Behind the Bucks Pass
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End of deer list: 10 moments and milestones that defined the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2018

By Jordan Treske

DENVER, CO - November 11 : Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks high fives Tony Snell #21 of the Milwaukee Bucks on November 11, 2018 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - November 11 : Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks high fives Tony Snell #21 of the Milwaukee Bucks on November 11, 2018 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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MEMPHIS, TN – MARCH 12: (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
MEMPHIS, TN – MARCH 12: (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The surreal re-debut of Brandon Jennings

There were many Bucks moments throughout 2018, and more specifically their 2017-18 season, that bordered on the surreal and strange. Yet the unlikely return of a once promising face of the franchise and the 10th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Brandon Jennings, may have taken the cake.

After bouncing out of the organization via trade in late July of 2013, Jennings’ post-Bucks career took many twists and turns. A devastating Achilles injury, which ironically occurred during a tilt against the Bucks in January 2015, only exacerbated the dips that Jennings experienced and set the wheels in motion for his NBA career reaching rock bottom.

Logging four stints between the Detroit Pistons, the Orlando Magic, the New York Knicks and the Washington Wizards in a two-year span, it appeared as if Jennings’ time in the NBA had run its course, given his ineffectiveness and the athleticism he struggled to regain following his injury.

With no NBA team wanting his services once free agency opened up in July of 2017, Jennings looked overseas to help get his career back on track, mirroring how he entered the NBA to begin with nearly a decade earlier. That eventually led to the 29-year-old locking down a stay with Shanxi Brave Dragons in China.

While overseas, Jennings’ play and progress was tracked by both Bucks general manager Jon Horst, and vice president of basketball operations and Wisconsin Herd general manager, Dave Dean. Once Jennings’ early season stint with the Brave Dragons came to an end and he returned stateside, both Dean and Horst reached out to Jennings and his representation to facilitate him coming back to the organization and playing for the Herd.

Jennings was officially brought on to the Herd during last season’s All-Star break and parlayed his seven-game stint in Oshkosh into a 10-day contract with the Bucks on March 11 as the team were weathering injuries to their point guard depth.

A day after minting his Bucks return, Jennings captured everyone’s attention by putting on a show that nearly left him compiling a triple-double in almost 24 minutes of action off the bench in the Bucks’ 121-103 win over the then-tankeriffic Memphis Grizzlies.

As expected, Jennings’ surprising Bucks re-debut proved to be a flash in the pan as the rest of his minutes beyond that point in the season were thoroughly ineffective. The Compton native’s second stint with the Bucks officially came to an end a few months later, and he is currently a free agent after his second return overseas ended dramatically not long into the 2018-19 campaign.

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