Bucks back to the drawing board
By RICK SOLEM
ricks@mwfbroadcasting.com
The Milwaukee Bucks point guard options got a bit thinner Saturday.
Atlanta’s 25-year-old point guard, Jeff Teague, will be retained. The Hawks matched the Bucks’ four-year, $32 million offer.
Now, it’s back to disgruntled Brandon Jennings, who, sources have said, does not want to play in Milwaukee next season.
That’s not much of a surprise. It seems like Jennings, who will be 24 when the 2014-15 season begins, hasn’t wanted to play in Milwaukee since his second year in the league. 
The Bucks have a qualifying offer of one year, $4 million on the table for Jennings. No other teams have made him an offer. He wants $11 million a year. The same amount Steph Curry and Ty Lawson have gotten.
The overall consensus seems that the Bucks will sign and trade Jennings. But it is curious that nobody has made him an offer, perhaps waiting for the situation to become so explosive between the Bucks and Jennings, that Milwaukee will part with him for anything.
It doesn’t look good for Jennings. Talent is nice, but his attitude has clearly steered teams away. This is all becoming a bad deal for Milwaukee and for Jennings.
Other options at point guard include bringing back veteran Mo Williams or signing San Antonio backup Gary Neal.
Williams, 30, who played for Milwaukee from 2004 to 2008, averaged 12.9 points (43 percent shooting), 6.2 assists and 2.7 turnovers for the Jazz in 46 games last season. Neal , 28, averaged 9.5 points (41 percent), 1.9 assists in 68 games.
Neither are good options in comparison to Jennings. His big downfall is his shot selection and shooting percentage. He shot 39 percent, averaging 17.5 points. If Milwaukee wants Neal or Williams, that shooting percentage isn’t improving much. And, in Williams’ case, he’s never been shy to throw the ball at the basket.
If nothing else, the Bucks can roll with Luke Ridnour, who was acquired in a three-way trade with Minnesota and Oklahoma City.
Ridnour, 32, averaged 11.5 points (45 percent) and 3.8 assists. It’s funny that Ridnour, in his 11th year, ends up with the Bucks.
Milwaukee traded Ray Allen and a first-round draft pick to Seattle for Gary Payton back in 2003. That first-round pick: Ridnour.
Payton played 28 games for the Bucks. And, of course, Allen is still churning in Miami at 38 years old (on July 20).
Just another bitter-feeling trade by the Bucks: Allen, Ridnour for Payton; Dirk Nowitzki, Pat Garrity for Robert “Tractor” Traylor (1998); Tobias Harris, Beno Udrih for J.J. Redick (2013).