Assessing Brandon Jennings to the Knicks trade rumors

Detroit Pistons’ guard Brandon Jennings made his return from an 11 month hiatus against the New York Knicks Tuesday, and unsurprisingly, Jennings to the Kicks trade rumors returned.

Brandon Jennings has only played in one game since tearing his Achilles last season, but he’s been rumored to be a trade target to the New York Knicks since the offseason.

One day after the Pistons played the Knicks, Frank Isola reiterated via the New York Daily News that the Knicks have interest in Jennings.

Isola via New York Daily News:

"And that’s where Jennings re-enters the picture. The Knicks, according to a source, have interest in several point guards including Jennings, who finally returned to the lineup after rupturing his left Achilles tendon nearly 11 months ago. That’s a red flag right there. Jennings went 2-for-4 with seven points and four assists in 17 minutes in his season debut.Of course, the trading deadline is two months away, which gives Jennings plenty of time to prove he can still be a starting-caliber point guard. “Oh yeah, I don’t think there is any doubt,” said Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy. “Brandon is coming back well off of the injury and he’s a guy who just absolutely loves to play, loves to be in the gym. He’s still young, he’s still 26. I don’t think there’s any doubt he’ll be a starting point guard in this league again.”"

The basis of the Jennings to the Knicks rumors is that Knicks don’t have a long-term solution at point guard and the Pistons do–but the Pistons’ solution is Reggie Jackson, not Brandon Jennings–creating a logical trade scenario.

But does this rumor have a realistic chance of happening? To answer that question, a few more need to be asked–questions that may not have answers at this point in time:

1. Would Brandon Jennings be willing to come off the bench long-term for the Pistons?
2. What would the Knicks be willing to offer Jennings?
3. What would the Pistons be willing to accept for Jennings?

Stan Van Gundy says he’s spoken to Jennings about his vision for him long-term with the team. Jennings has said that he’s fine with coming off the bench in a sixth man type of role–but then again, he is coming off of a major injury.

While Jennings initial acceptance to come of the bench is encouraging, are his feelings about his role going to change if and when he reaches his level of play prior to the injury?

Unlike the situation with Greg Monroe–who signed a one-year qualifying offer a season ago– the ball is in Van Gundy’s court as he can trade or keep Jennings freely depending on Jennings’ feelings towards the organization.

Van Gundy’s decision will undoubtedly come done to his private conversations with Jennings and his own gut feeling–along with what type of offers he receives for him.

The Knicks have assets to make a deal happen, like a replacement for Jennings in Jose Calderon, a backup shooting guard in Aaron Afflalo, and an affordable and suitable option off the bench in Kyle O’Quinn–all of which would be very enticing to the Pistons.

But would the Knicks be willing to offer that? Would another team offer more? What would the Pistons have to add to satisfy the finances of that type of deal?

There are far to many variables and not enough information to take this any further than one of the many rumors that float around each season that never come to fruition.

With two months left before the trade deadline, there should be more clarity to the Brandon Jennings situation, especially if Jennings proves to be fully back from his injury.

If that happens, perhaps Van Gundy will have a better idea of what Jennings wants long-term. Maybe he’ll receive a deal that’s too good to pass up.

We’ll just have to wait and see.