New York Knicks: Brandon Jennings Agrees To Join Washington Wizards
Former New York Knicks point guard Brandon Jennings has agreed to join the Washington Wizards.
On Monday the New York Knicks shook up their roster. They waived point guard Brandon Jennings and signed offseason standout Chasson Randle, who was released from the Philadelphia 76ers. Randle will have a chance to showcase the skills he showed during Summer League and Training Camp, while Jennings can play for a contender.
Jennings will get his wish, as he has picked where he will be playing next. According to Chris Haynes of ESPN, Jennings has informed the Washington Wizards that he will be signing with them.
Jennings informed the Wizards of his intentions on Tuesday, but cannot sign until Wednesday night. Jennings is still on waivers until 5 PM ET Wednesday and cannot sign until after that time. He will be heading to Washington to officially sign the deal after that time.
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The Knicks decided to hold onto Jennings even though he was getting some attention at the NBA Trade Deadline. The Wizards were one team interested in Jennings, and now they will be able to get him without surrendering any future assets to the Knicks in a trade.
Jennings asked the Knicks for his release on Monday so that he could play for a contender. Jennings had hoped that the Knicks would be a contender, saying that it would be embarrassing if New York didn’t make the postseason.
Kristaps Porzingis shared some thoughts on the Knicks waiving Jennings. He said that he enjoyed playing with Jennings, but you could tell that something was off and that he was no longer happy playing for the Knicks.
"“He’s a great veteran, great guy. But he wasn’t, you could tell that he wasn’t himself lately so that’s probably the best thing for him. Because he loves basketball, he loves playing basketball (and) he wasn’t happy here.”"
Jennings is undoubtedly not the only player unhappy with how things have gone this season. He had high hopes for the team, signing on to be the backup point guard behind Derrick Rose. The Knicks have fallen woefully short of this expectations, as they are closer to a top-five pick in the 2017 NBA Draft than a playoff spot.
Jennings had a solid season for the Knicks as their sixth man and filling in admirably whenever Rose was out of the lineup. Jennings averaged 8.6 points, 4.9 assists, and 2.6 rebounds in just 24.6 minutes per game.
Next: New York Knicks Takeaways From Trade Deadline
Jennings should slide right into the backup point guard spot behind John Wall. The Wizards were aiming to improve their bench at the trade deadline and have accomplished that. In addition to signing Jennings, the Wizards also traded for Bojan Bogdanovic from the Brooklyn Nets.