Whether Jabari Parker becomes a star or a bust, he’s not going to do it in Milwaukee. The 23-year-old forward, who seemed like a vital part of the Bucks’ future when they made him the second player taken in the 2014 draft, is headed to their division rivals in Chicago.
Two ACL injuries prevented Parker from reaching his full potential in Milwaukee. The first came during his rookie season and limited him to 25 games. The second, in January of 2017, cost him a significant part of two seasons. Parker was showing signs of stardom before that injury struck, posting a 20.1/6.2/2.8 line through 51 games.
Despite his medical history, the Bulls were willing to gamble on Parker’s talent, giving him $40MM over two years to make a fresh start in Chicago. The organization limited its risk by guaranteeing only the first season, with a team option on the second.
If Parker’s health holds up, it could be a major win for the maligned front office duo of John Paxson and Gar Forman. Parker would be a valuable piece alongside Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn and Wendell Carter Jr., giving the Bulls one of the best collections of young talent in the East.
Chicago has only been out of the playoffs for one year, but Paxson and owner Jerry Reinsdorf quickly grew frustrated with the rebuilding process, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. They wanted a shortcut to become a contender again, and Parker may able to provide that.
We want to get your predictions on the move. Will Parker be able to revive his career in Chicago and turn the Bulls into a winner again, or is this a reckless gamble on a player whose knees will always be a concern? Please leave your responses in the space below.
Jabari needs to play 30 minutes a night, prove he can stay healthy, she some weight, bond with a coach, give a ton more effort on D and be a reliable bench scoring threat who can (eventually) close games.
That’s a tall ask on a team destined to play Lauri and Wendell 32+ minutes each.
Jabari is strictly a 4 at this point, wholly incapable of defending 3’s and a terrible terrible switch defender. $20m is a clear overpay but they have nothing to lose this year. Jabari didn’t affect Wins in MKE, probably won’t on a terrible CHI team this year either, so his value is almost entirely going to come in 19/20 and beyond.
I disagree with the idea that they had nothing to lose, even on a one-year deal. It won’t affect their future cap flexibility, so it won’t HURT them long term, but the fact that they were the team with the most cap room left this summer gave them multiple options to improve their long-term outlook, and I’m not sure taking a flier on Parker was the best one.
It’ll be interesting to see how things work out for the Bulls and Nets. The Nets essentially used their $20MM in cap room to acquire a pair of extra draft picks, while the Bulls spent it on a short-term contract for a player.
Unless Parker has a terrific year (which is possible, but a tall ask in Chicago, as you suggest), I think it’s more likely than not that they’ll just waive him next summer. With nearly half the league hitting free agency in 2019, there will probably be better ways to spend $20MM.
At that point, the Nets could have a couple draft picks to show for how they used their 2018 cap room, while the Bulls could have nothing. That’d be the downside for Chicago.
The other argument is they lost whatever assets may have been available to them in the Felicio for Melo rumor, but obviously that depends on the amount of speculation vs facts involved.
Id rather have Parker than the 22nd pick of a draft… Parker hasn’t lived up to his draft hype, but most of that is injury related. When the guy plays, he can score almost at will. That they picked him up without sacrificing any real future flexibility makes this a no-lose situation. If he fails, they’re exactly where they would’ve been minus a pick in the 20s. If they hit, they have a 20-25 point scorer to go along with a max salary slot for next summer.
I’ll amend this slightly.
*They didn’t lose any real payroll flexibility with this move.
What your comment breaks down to is that the Bulls chose Parker over a pick in the 20-25 range. If this were a trade scenario, I’d take Parker.
If it works, the Bulls have another really good young piece on the roster.
If it doesn’t, not only does the money come off the books- but with $53 mil in cap space next summer, the Bulls could just buy a pick in that range from a team that doesn’t want a rookie deal to cut into their potential max salary space- and it would be hurt the Bulls flexibility to be big time players in the market.
You’re definitely more bullish on Parker than me. Coming into this offseason, if he had two years and $40MM left on his contract with one year guaranteed, would he even have been viewed as a positive asset, given the season he just had? I definitely don’t think you’d have been able to trade that contract for a first- and second-round pick (what the Nets got from the Nuggets).
Also, are we sure that Denver first-rounder will be in the 20s? The Nuggets just finished 9th in the conference, and while I like their roster, the West won’t be any easier (none of the eight teams ahead of them have gotten much worse, and the Lakers will be better). There’s a pretty real chance that pick lands in the teens, even if Denver improves.
Whether it’s at 15, 20, or 25, that pick doesn’t guarantee a great player, obviously, but the price to get a first-rounder in that range is usually high (to get the 22nd pick in the 2018 draft, the Bulls had to give up a good player and take on a bad contract). I think that pick will be a pretty good trade chip going forward if the Nets want to flip it.
Anyway, like I said, it’ll be interesting to see how things play out. I hope Jabari proves me wrong, since it’d be cool to see him succeed in Chicago.
It would be funny, and possible, if Faried does more for the Nets than Parker does for the Bulls!
Of course since Faried has lately not been what he used to be. As for Parker, in my experience, players advertised as boom-or-bust emerge in an average range.
Most likely, a big return to the first round by the Nets in 2019! (Den protected 1-12)
That’s a lot of injury questions between Parker and LaVine. Parker is a short term deal so not that much of a risk. It depends what the Bulls front office seems success. I can see them as a 6-8 seed in the West.
The Bulls play in the East, but I get your drift.
I think the West part was a typo mainly because they wouldn’t be a 6-8 seed out West…
That said, the Bulls were put in a rough situation when re-signing LaVine took them past the point of being able to offer 2 max Fa deals next summer. That was always the pie in the sky dream…
But the Parker signing is a nice recovery. With a number of desperate teams having cap space a year from now and now enough max FAs for all of them – all Parker needed to do was to stay healthy to land a deal close to the max. And before people dispute that, just remember that NBA teams are stupid and usually overspend on potential when they have money…
Now the Bulls have struggled to sign real difference makers in FA, and they’ve struck out on that front with better cores than this one, but the idea is to make the playoffs and to then pitch a star on joining an under-25 core that includes Markkanen, Parker, LaVine, Dunn, and Carter. Being a more desirable teams or star FAs in 2019 is the real goal here for which they’ll determine whether or not the year was successful.
I think you covered it your article. If he stays healthy, Parker can help a team. However, he won’t be the guy turning around Chicago’s misfortunes even if he stays healthy. Someone has to defend.
Its a gamble but its not reckless since the deal is essentially for one year. Its a large sum, but he’s able to score a decently high level when healthy, and any further steps he potentially takes in his development is just a bonus. Realistically, Parker’s expectations are likely pretty low even with his salary. He’s stuck behind Markkanen at the 4 and is not good enough defensively to be a small-ball center except in a quick pinch. Given what we have seen from him so far, Parker’s ceiling seems to be as a rotational 4 who starts/comes off the bench based on lineup combinations. He really needs to continue to work on a 3pt shot to stay in the league imo. He’s too slow and doesn’t do enough defensively to justify being anything more than a solid 4th scoring option.
he shot 38% from 3 last year and 36.5% the season before… that’s more than adequate beyond the arc…
Dunn, Lavine, Parker, Markkanen, Carter Jr. looks like a excellent starting 5 to me. Number 1 in the east coming with these boys.
The Bulls have said Parker will start at small forward. I think the Bulls ans Suns have the best young talent in the NBA.
Bulls have a good collection, but even as a Bulls fan, Id put the Suns ahead of them because their best players have star potential – while the Bulls best players do not. Parker, the injury risk that he is, represents the highest ceiling of any current Bulls player.
zach lavine is mad right now they gave 20 mil per season to parker with 2 acl injuries and bulls didnt offee him nothing
Don’t let the facts get in the way of a fake beef. The Bulls offered Zach $18M x 4 and he signed an offer sheet that averages to $19.5 x 4. I highly doubt he’s mad at the Bulls FO for signing Parker to a 1 yr deal w a team option.
I like the Bulls going for competitiveness rather than bemoaning GSW and tanking.
I am sorry to say but in no way, shape, size or even form, Chicago is gonna compete this year, nowhere near the playoffs with this team. Dunn is looking good, ZLV & Jabari they are the weakest links in the team, Markkanen & WCJ looking like stars but very young yet, so Chicago has got a long way to go. Clearly the team with the best & most exciting young talent in the league is Philly with Simmons, Fultz, Zhaire, Dario & Embiid. So Chicago is way behind… their rebuilt is just starting.
“ Clearly” you’ve never looked at the Celtics roster…
Tatum and Brown are good but Embiid is tantalizing and I think Stevens could do great things with Saric and Zhaire. I’m not putting Rozier in the great talent category yet because I want to see him replicate his success, if not build on it. Smart may be gone too.
Embid Is just as injury prone as Levine and Parker. Saric is 24. Zzhaire and Fultz have proven nothing. Tatum is not even 20 and he was the best player on the floor for their playoff series against each other. Brown is the best two way player of the bunch and is under 22. Rozier is younger than Embid and Saric and was the starting point guard who helped them get within one game of the finals. Robert Williams is a lottery talent who hasn’t proven anything either, but if you count Fultz and Zhaire than you have to include him. “Clearly” was the wrong word to use. “Arguably” might have the better, but even then it would have been wrong. It’s not a good argument either
Chicago has only been out of the playoffs for one year, but Paxson and owner Jerry Reinsdorf quickly grew frustrated with the rebuilding process
LOL unlike Sixer Owner Josh Harris who is a strong believer in Brett Brown and the ‘Process’
“And with the first pick in the 2019 NBA draft, the Chicago Bulls select … Pete McGhannihan, Physical Therapist, Harvard Med.”
LaVine is more of a gamble than Parker. Parkers entire game doesnt revolve around explosiveness like LaVines does.