With many of the top-tier unrestricted free agents off the board already, the focus this week may shift to the big restricted free agents still available, such as Nikola Pekovic and Brandon Jennings. Although we didn't hear a ton of news or rumors on Jennings during the first week of free agency, Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times passes along an update today, tweeting that Jennings is seeking an annual salary of $12MM. According to Woelfel, the Bucks are "starting to cave," offering Jennings just over $11MM per year.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported last Tuesday that Jennings' representatives at Excel Sports had presented the Bucks with an undisclosed figure that the 23-year-old would be willing to accept to re-sign with the team. If we connect the dots and assume that the undisclosed amount was $12MM annually, and that Jennings is looking for a long-term deal, that would work out to $48MM over four years, or $60MM for five.
While re-signing Jennings is one option for the Bucks, it sounds as if it's not the only scenario the team is exploring. ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported overnight that Milwaukee and Atlanta are discussing a sign-and-trade deal that would send Jennings to the Hawks and Jeff Teague to the Bucks. If the two sides were able to reach an agreement, there'd be a new-look backcourt of Teague and O.J. Mayo in Milwaukee, with Jennings, Monta Ellis, and J.J. Redick all seemingly headed elsewhere.
Jennings has never made an all star game. His opponents average more against him than he scores against his opponent. That sounds like $12 mil to me.