Brandon Jennings still an observer, but hopes for chance to grow with Orlando Magic

Brandon Jennings was brought into bring some veteran leadership. His style may be different, but he hopes to be part of the Orlando Magic’s ongoing growth.

Brandon Jennings is still admittedly finding his way with his new team after the trade deadline deal sent him from the Detroit Pistons to the Orlando Magic. Really, he is still finding his way back from an Achilles injury that caused him to miss most of last season for the Pistons.

It felt like the Magic acquired him mostly as a salary dump. His $8 million expiring contract — along with Ersan Ilyasova‘s non-guaranteed $8.4 million salary in 2017 — essentially cleared away the biggest salary the Magic had on the books and opened up the potential for two max salary slots.

Jennings though is still a pretty capable player. Someone who could put up a lot of points in a hurry and before his injury was coming into his own as more than just a scorer in this league. There was still value in him.

Orlando Magic general manager Rob Hennigan said the deal was done to bring in some veteran leadership and help bring some balance to the bench. With the recent elbow injury to Elfrid Payton, the Magic have needed that depth at point guard as Jennings has played an important role in his stead.

What the future holds for Jennings likely depends on how he finishes the season and what the Magic want to do.

In an interview with Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, Jennings said he is still finding his way with the new roster, more observing than inserting himself to the front (perhaps not the veteran leadership everyone imagined) but that he sees himself helping this young team continue to grow and make progress.

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"“I’m more observing the most,” Jennings says in the interview. “I’m kind of letting [Victor Oladipo] do the whole leadership thing. I’m still trying to learn everybody. Definitely going to take a while. Hopefully this summer we can work something out where I can come back. That’s when I can learn guys a little better.”"

There was always a possibility the Magic could keep both Jennings and Ilyasova. It is not like they are bad players. But they would obviously eat into the cap room the Magic have created and the potential to acquire some bigger name players.

Jennings has been a bit up and down in his month with the Magic. He is averaging 7.8 points per game and 3.9 assists per game in 18.5 minutes per game during his 15 appearances for the Magic so far. Those numbers are up from the 23 games he played with the Pistons earlier this season. However his effective field goal percentage is down to 42.5 percent from 45.5 percent with Detroit.

Jennings is still getting his feet under him after recovering from the Achilles injury of last year.

But things have turned since the Magic inserted him into the starting lineup. He is averaging 10.0 points per game (dragged down by a two-point performance Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers) and 7.3 assists per game in starts the last three games while shooting a 42.3 percent effective field goal percentage.

He has noticeably quickened the pace of the team’s offense and works well off the ball, allowing Victor Oladipo to attack more with the ball in his hands. That is certainly something different as compared to Elfrid Payton.

Whether that is enough or whether the Magic feel they can trust to give him that much playing time is another matter.

From a financial matter, the Magic have C.J. Watson under contract for another year at an affordable $5 million. Jennings certainly would have to take a pretty sizeable pay cut to stay with the Magic. It just puts the chances at him staying as very low unless he really shows out the last 10-12 games of the season.

Still Jennings told Kyler this is a team he could see himself growing with. He likes the players on the roster and the potential for everyone to grow. He may not have the leadership role everyone expected, but he could be someone that helps the team prepare and work this offseason to get better and plays a role moving forward.

This is his audition for a new contract for sure.