NBA Milwaukee Bucks: 3 Reasons the Bucks Shouldn't Trade Brandon Jennings

Brandon Jennings in Milwaukee's Nov. 3 win against Cleveland
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Going into his fourth year in the NBA, Brandon Jennings hasn’t made the impact on the Milwaukee Bucks that the team hoped he would.

The Bucks have had two losing seasons since they were eliminated by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2009-10 season playoffs.

They decided against extending Jennings’ contract, which will make him a restricted free agent next summer.

But is letting go of Jennings really going to make Milwaukee better?

Here are three reasons the Buck shouldn’t let him go.

He's a Consistent Scorer

Brandon Jennings scores in Saturday's Milwaukee win over Cleveland
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Last season, Jennings led his team in scoring with just over 19 PPG. He proved he hadn’t lost his touch when he scored 21 in the Bucks' season opener against the Celtics last Friday.

We won’t go back so far as to mention Jennings’ 55-point game against the Golden State Warriors in his rookie year. But if we were to talk about that night, it might serve to prove what kind of scorer Jennings can be.

But what is most helpful about Jennings’ scoring is that it’s consistent. Last season he scored in single-digits just seven times.

That’s what helped Milwaukee improve from a 34-win team in the 2008-09 season to one that made the playoffs the next year. Jennings helped Milwaukee put up a winning record even with their star guard Michael Redd playing just 18 games in the season.

And Jennings’ scoring continues to help the Bucks win.

While he’s just a 34 percent shooter from beyond the arc, Jennings gave his team their second win of the season this weekend. He hit a game-winning three with seven tenths of a second left on the shot clock to beat Cleveland.

He's Improving

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Jennings is just 23 years old and his scoring has improved each year since he was drafted 10^th overall by the Bucks in 2009.

His PPG has gone up from 15.5 in his rookie season to 19.1 last year, and his field-goal percentage also improved from .371 to .418 during that time.

Jennings is averaging 17 PPG in Milwaukee’s first two games, but has 13 assists in both contests.

Milwaukee doesn’t want to lose a talented young player who’s just getting better and better. 

He Can Play with Monta Ellis

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Ellis played in the Bucks' final 21 games last season and went 12-9 during that time. Ellis and Jennings are similar players with similar builds who are averaging about the same number of points and assists for their career.

Ellis is 6’3’’ 185 pounds and averages 19.5 PPG and 4.5 APG.

Jennings is 6’1" 169 pounds who averages 16.8 PPG and 5.5 APG.

That same type of arrangement didn’t work in Golden State, leading to the trade of Monta Ellis a couple years after the team picked up Stephen Curry in the draft. But that doesn’t mean it won’t work for the Bucks. In fact, from what few conclusions we can draw from Milwaukee’s first couple regular-season games this year, Jennings is a better distributor when he plays with Ellis.

Milwaukee’s already 2-0 this season, and in both games, Brandon Jennings has put up double-doubles. With Elis on the floor alongside him, Jennings might just become the point guard the Bucks want: one who passes the ball.