NBA Rumors: Bucks Shouldn't Worry About Brandon Jennings' Overblown Comments

A media firestorm erupted on Friday after comments from Brandon Jennings were reported by Chris Broussard of ESPN. The young Milwaukee Bucks point guard basically said he wasn't going to rule out anything about his future, including a possible move to a big-market franchise.

Charles Gardner of the Journal Sentinel reports Jennings has never asked to be moved out of Milwaukee and was simply keeping his options open:

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Jennings said he wanted to clear up a notion he wants out of Milwaukee.

"I never said I was leaving Milwaukee, though," Jennings said. "That's one thing I want to get cleared up. I don't know what the future holds."

After the ESPN story came out, Jennings tweeted: "Just because I said I'm keeping my options open dont mean I'm leaving Milwaukee.... And idc about the market part!"

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It shouldn't be a surprise that a player would consider leaving his current team if things weren't moving in the right direction, so it would seem more like a minor footnote rather than a marquee story. However, since it was a rising star like Jennings, everybody began to run with it.

He can't even become an unrestricted free agent until 2014, further lessening the impact of his comments on the Bucks. The team has already been dealing with an unhappy Stephen Jackson and the last thing they need are problems with Jennings as well.

He's enjoying the best season of his young career, which is the only reason he was asked about his plans in the first place. By averaging a career-high 19 points per game while improving his shooting percentage nearly four points, Jennings has started to turn some heads.

If the Bucks are serious about becoming contenders down the road, he must remain their cornerstone. Dynamic young point guards are extremely hard to come by and letting one get away would be a massive loss.

That's why it's important for them to start talking about a long-term contract after the season ends, but it's not as urgent as some media members would lead you to believe. There's plenty of time to talk about an extension before the Bucks get backed into a corner.

Jennings had nothing but good things to say about the city in Gardner's report. His thoughts make it seem like the original statements were simply a young player getting asked about something he wasn't expecting to discuss.

Just consider it water under the bridge for now. Jennings isn't going anywhere for the time being and the Bucks have more pressing issues to deal with before the trade deadline.