Wizards acquire Brandon Jennings

[nate33]

We have a lot of data on Jennings' career. He'll play better than he has. He's a decent scorer and so far he's been absolutely atrocious.

I guess we can say he has been worse than Burke thus far?

No, because Burke plays in that head-down/pound-the-rock style that prevents the other guys on the floor from being effective. Though I will say that playing Burke with Wall makes more sense than playing Jennings with Wall - Jennings is by no means a combo-guard.

Agreed. Burke can't even get us into our halfcourt sets. Jennings is racking up assists quite nicely, even though he's been shooting poorly. I don't expect him to continue to shoot 21% from the floor, but double-digit assists per 36 minutes seems sustainable.

Also, Jennings has gotten beat defensively on occasion, but he has also provided enough on-the-ball pressure to force a few turnovers. He's averaging 1.3 steals per 36 minutes, which ain't great, but it's better than Burke's horrific 0.5 steals per 36.

The bottom line is that when Wall is off the floor, Jennings is a much better alternative than Burke. However, I'm not sure I see the logic in playing Jennings alongside Wall - not unless his shooting stroke returns. If Wall is in while Beal is resting, Oubre or Sato (or perhaps even Burke) should play SG.

[sfam]

I guess we can say he has been worse than Burke thus far?

No, because Burke plays in that head-down/pound-the-rock style that prevents the other guys on the floor from being effective. Though I will say that playing Burke with Wall makes more sense than playing Jennings with Wall - Jennings is by no means a combo-guard.

Agreed. Burke can't even get us into our halfcourt sets. Jennings is racking up assists quite nicely, even though he's been shooting poorly. I don't expect him to continue to shoot 21% from the floor, but double-digit assists per 36 minutes seems sustainable.

Also, Jennings has gotten beat defensively on occasion, but he has also provided enough on-the-ball pressure to force a few turnovers. He's averaging 1.3 steals per 36 minutes, which ain't great, but it's better than Burke's horrific 0.5 steals per 36.

The bottom line is that when Wall is off the floor, Jennings is a much better alternative than Burke. However, I'm not sure I see the logic in playing Jennings alongside Wall - not unless his shooting stroke returns. If Wall is in while Beal is resting, Oubre or Sato (or perhaps even Burke) should play SG.

I think the Jennings/Wall thing is more about acclimating Jennings to the Wizards fast break game. I doubt we see this in the playoffs.

[gtn130]

Jennings is legit terrible at basketball

And still somehow way better than Burke

[bsilver]

Assuming Jennings gets back to his Knick numbers (37%FG, 32%3pt ) vs 23%, 0% with the Wizards, then his play is acceptable, since he can run the offense. Taking too many chances on defense, but maybe he's try to make up for terrible shooting.

Sato still may be the better option. Good defense and playing with more confidence lately. Brooks needs to keep giving him enough minutes to evaluate his play vs Jennings. Definitely more upside with Sato.

[payitforward]

At least we're winning games while Jennings goes through this horrible streak. He's not a good player, but he's better than this -- and, yes, he's better than Burke.

[BigA]

He a bust?

[AFM]

What's up with this guy? He's been a volume scorer all his career and is now all of a sudden having trouble scoring whatsoever.

[tontoz]

Jennings has always struggled to finish inside which is why he is a career 39% shooter from the field. He is small, weak and doesn't have the moves to make up for that.

But he was at least an average jump shooter. Now he can't make a jumper. Maybe he is feeling pressure about getting another contract.

[pcbothwel]

What's up with this guy? He's been a volume scorer all his career and is now all of a sudden having trouble scoring whatsoever.

I think he is trying to fit in with a real contender. Think about, his last 3 teams he was a backup, yet better than the starter. He was better than Rose this year in NY. He was better than Elfrid Payton/Reggie Jackson last year.
Now, He is behind a top 5 PG on a top 5 team. He is trying to fit in on the 2nd unit and not look selfish.

[Sluggerface]

What a weird turnaround for Jennings. He's taking 14 shots per 100 possessions, even lower than he did with the Knicks, and is posting an unreal 15.8 assists per 100, by far the most he's ever had in his career if this hold up. I don't see him averaging less than 30% from the field like he has been. He's due for some buckets.

[80sballboy]

I think he still needs to learn the team. At least Brooks had him play with the Beal and that's a lot better than with Wall. But when Beal picked up his fourth, he had to play him with Wall. I think he struggles playing in the halfcourt and with screens. He's passed up some open shots and forced some bad ones. Hopefully he starts shooting around 40% and can get some points off transition because this dude used to be a big-time scorer. Now he's getting others involved but when he's with Oubre and Mahinmi, he also needs to score some.

[Induveca]

I watched him a lot earlier in the year, this is an epic slump. He's a far far better shooter than this, his court vision is the same.

Happy with him despite the shooting, Burke doesn't belong in the league.

[leswizards]

Burke and Jennings have been awful. It is time to just give all the back up point guard minutes to Satoransky. It doesn't hurt the Wizards in the short run, as it is hard for him to be worse than Burke and Jennings, and it helps the team in the long run in that Satoransky has a future with the team, and giving him playing time gives him on the job training.

Jennings had a good six game stretch which made me think I was going to have to apologize for the above post. But alas, he has gone back to being awful. I stand behind the above post.