12:43pm: The Bulls have officially announced their new deal with Parker, issuing a press release to confirm the signing. As detailed below, it’s a two-year, $40MM agreement, but it’s only guaranteed for the first year.
11:09am: The Bulls have agreed to a two-year, $40MM deal with Jabari Parker, who became an unrestricted free agent after the Bucks rescinded their qualifying offer, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. It was reported that the Bucks did not unilaterally withdraw their qualifying offer ahead of Friday’s deadline, but the team did so today with Parker’s consent.
Bucks general manager Jon Horst said to ESPN that the organization wasn’t going to match an offer sheet and decided to let Parker negotiate a deal as an unrestricted free agent.
“Jabari and I felt it was in the best interest of both he and the team to rescind our qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent,” Horst said in a statement. “We appreciate everything Jabari has brought to our team and our community over the last four years and we wish him well.”
While Parker was reportedly interested in joining his hometown Bulls, earlier reports suggested he wanted to return to Milwaukee. Instead, Parker departs Milwaukee for a chance to prove he can stay healthy for a full season.
“I am extremely grateful to the Bucks and the incredible fans of Milwaukee for showing me so much love and encouragement,” Parker said in a statement. “Specifically, I’d like to thank Jon, Marc, Wes and Jamie for giving me my start in the NBA and supporting me throughout my career.”
Parker, 23, is a former second overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft who has shown flashes of his potential but has seen his career impacted by two ACL tears in his left knee.
After missing the start of the 2017/18 season, Parker returned to play in 31 games, averaging 12.6 PPG and 4.9 RPG in 24.0 minutes per contest. A year prior, Parker was in the midst of a career season, averaging 20.1 PPG and 6.2 RPG before tearing his ACL a second time. As Hoops Rumors wrote earlier this year, Parker is one of 97 NBA players to tear an ACL since 1970 and is one of nine players to do so twice.
With the troubled injury history, the second year of Parker’s new deal with the Bulls is a team option, Wojnarowski tweets. This lowers risk for the Bulls if Parker’s left knee fails to hold up and also gives him the option to pursue a long-term deal with Chicago if he can stay healthy and productive.
Since 2010, 33 players have torn their ACL and none of them have gone on to make an All-Star team after the injury. For Parker, this significant guarantee signals the chance to prove his left knee is capable of handling a full season and worth a more significant investment.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
The report u guys published this morning said the Bucks did not rescind the QO, which is it?
I don’t know why they can’t get it straight, they had to withdraw the QO by midnight last night. As far as I know, they didn’t.
If they didn’t rescind the qualifying offer in time they need the agreement of the player to do so. Based on what’s written in the article it sounds like both the team and player were in agreement.
This was already covered in another comment, but to clarify: Last night was the deadline for teams to unilaterally withdraw qualifying offers (ie. doing so without needing the player’s approval). Based on various reports, it sounds like the Bucks kept the QO on the table through that deadline, then withdrew it today with Parker’s consent.
The Bulls themselves didn’t know yesterday evening. It was in the Chicago Tribune. Woj said last night whatever happened, the Bucks wouldn’t match it, and they didn’t. Parker was a McDonalds all American high school player from Chicago and wanted to be there. Chicago wanted him.
And Milwaukee didn’t have the ability to match anyway given that they’re hard capped.
Get a life Sam
20 per year?! wtf… there goes next year’s cap room
Lopez’s almost $15 million per year contract will be off-the-books, next year. Also, they can get creative in moving Asik and Feliciano’s bloated contracts, as well.
They had a little more than $50 mil prior to this. So that’s still enough for a max deal if they can lure someone. Given how many teams have cap space, there’s little chance the Bulls were going to land a 24-year old with this type of potential for $20 mil next year
They’ll still have about $20+ mil next year to play around with, unless they now resign Nwaba. They were never going to get any of the big free agents. Instead they did the right thing: take a chance one or two of the 24 year old, promising, athletic players they have develop into a star. They STILL don’t have any majorly bad contracts unless Lavine gets injured again. They still have cap flexibility and creativity to improve.
The Bulls have roughly $81.7 mil committed to next year after this signing. That doesn’t include a future 1st rd pick, but let’s earmark that at $5 mil. With a cap at $108 mil next year, the Bulls will have roughly $22 mil to spend.
They can get creative, though
Renouncing Valentine would take them to $26 mil. Stretching Asik and Felicio would take them to $39 mil.
If the Bulls can convince a major FA to sign with them, they can easily sign him.
Plus I read that even though it’s a two year deal, the second year is a team option.
The Bulls pick will be out of the lottery likely now so the 1st ro pick isn’t going to be $5 mil. Like $2-$3 mil likes Hutchison. Also, why would they renounce Valentine? He’s a good bench player on a rookie deal in 2019-2020. That’s crazy! Asik is only $3 mil next year so you can’t save $13 mil with Felicio and Asik, even if someone absorbed Felicio outright. $7.8 + $3 does not equal $13 mil. Your math is off. They’ll have about $26 mil next year and potentially $46 if they don’t exercise Parkers option. Plenty for a max FA if one is actually willing to come, which is unlikely anyways.
Asik has a $12 mil player option. That’s why you think my math is off …
What a loss of a 2nd overall pick. Not that that draft was good. Only all star players in that draft is Embiid and Jokic. Then you have a couple of ok players like Wiggins and Parker. But still, sad it never really worked out.
Julius Randle is ok as well
And Capela. But yeah, I thought that there would be a lot more good players to come from that draft.
That’s how most drafts are. Most drafts are not like 1996 or 2003, you only get 2-5 All Star type players in an average draft, plus another 5-10 solid starters. The rest are usually just role players at best.
The ’03 draft was top heavy but terrible otherwise. Kirk Hinrich was far and away the 5th best player in that draft…
Chris Kamen, David West, Kendrick Perkins, Mo Williams, Kyle Korver
Stupid bucks. Parker fits Giannis’s timeline perfectly.
Good for the bulls though. Parker’s a great player
What has Parker done that makes him a great player?
11Bravo
Exactly, nothing! Not sure why so many think this hurts the Bucks. They played better when he wasn’t on the court. Plus the playoff series this year, he looked as bad as Harden did last year. Pathetic and embarrassing.
This makes sense given the LaVine signing last week. Prior to that, the Bulls would’ve had enough to offer two max deals next summer. But after LaVine, Bulls were slated for a tad over $50 mil next off season. Best case, that would’ve been one max and maybe two role players.
The Bulls still have a best case scenario of one max player, but given how many teams are slated for space next summer, it’s unlikely the Bulls could’ve gotten a player with Parker’s potential for the remaining money. A 24-year old with his ability to score would’ve gotten more money in next year’s market.
It’s obviously a health risk, but it’s calculated and makes some sense. If Parker stays healthy, he provides the Bulls with a big time scoring option. If he doesn’t, his contract will come off the books before the Bulls have to commit long term money to Markkanen, meaning they’d get most of the cap space back in 2020.
100% agreed.
When healthy he’s worth about 12-15m a season. Injury prone. Not worth 20m a season.
JJ Redick got a boatload of money last year and this year too. When you have an NBA commissioner who li,ed handing out money the way he does, players are worth what the cap allows them to be worth.
Besides what a few million among friends?
Reddick is a much better, healthier player though who can shoot you into a game or at the very worst, keep the other teams honest on defense. I’m a huge Parker fan, but anything over the MLE or qualifying offer seems like a waste. Who was going to give him 10mil a year besides the bulls?
Kings for sure. Hawks would have jumped if Parker was available for $10 mil.
He was available for 10mil. The bucks already said they had no intention of matching. Where were all the other offers? Kings, sure, but the Kings are a terrible franchise that keeps finding new lows.
No one was offering $10 mil for Parker. Show me a link. He turned down 3 yrs/$48 mill last year. He wasn’t accepting $10 mil. Kings are considering a $15+ mil offer. One report said the Kings were discussing an offer with Parker around the same amount of money as the Bulls. Hawks and Nets didn’t even offer him a deal, nor anyone else, because his camp made clear he was not going to sign for that low. Bucks would have FOR SURE kept him for $10 mil. They could have kept him and not gone into the luxury tax for $10 mil.
Thank GOD that Parker turned down that offer last year from the Bucks. That would have been the death of the Bucks for the foreseeable future.
So you’re saying the Bulls were bidding against themselves, the kings at “15 mil” and Parker’s camp? 3 teams still had enough room for 15 mil, there wasn’t a market for Parker. Even at the qualifying offer, the bucks didn’t want him! It sounds like Parker’s group privately negotiated with teams that are regulated by the NBA to spend a certain percentage of their cap space and no one was that sure of it except the Bulls who once again overpay for a player that didn’t really have a market.
Honestly, I’m still high on Jabari Parker. He can play the 3 in spurts, but in general he is best at the 4. I feel like he improved defensively the year he was healthy, as his athleticism improved from when his body wasnt in great shape coming out of college, but it remains to be seen if he can get back to that. And improve further, and it remains to be seen if he can guard on the wing. Still, his offensive ability in the half court is very useful, and I think if he regains the explosiveness he had in that healthy year, he can be not terrible on defense to allow him to be a big contributor
…on a side note, the team.option will allow them to retain their flexibility next offseason when they were projected to have $40 million in cap space before this signing.
They could also get creative, renouncing Valentine and stretching both Asik and Felicio. That would add $17 mil or so in space.
Not sure who the Bucks helped in lifting the QO, Parker or the Bulls. A 1/1 (t) doesn’t qualify for an offer sheet. While Parker likely got a higher number in the first year of the deal as a result, this also allows the Bulls to clear his contract after this season.
Bucks deserve some credit for letting a very high draft pick walk (for “nothing” as they say) when their process (right or wrong) indicated it. Too many teams believe they have to sign guys in his category or risk looking bad for both the pick and giving up to soon. Of course, he was drafted by the prior regime and has had two serious knee injuries. Still matching a 2 year offer sheet would have been a safe way not to look bad.
I am have been so up in the air on this one. His ceiling could make us regret this. His floor could make us think thank god! We have one of the and soon the best player in the nba. To waist 20 mil a year on a guy who may never reach his potential when there are plenty of superstars next year who will come to Milwaukee to play with Giannis. Brooke Lopez is a perfect fit but we couldn’t afford him. He signed anyway for wayyyy less then he could get. The bulls may have two broken down players by the all star break that they paid a s*** loaf to.
“there are plenty of superstars next year who will come to Milwaukee to play with Giannis”
Good luck with that.
I really don’t think Parker will be THAT much of a loss for the Bucks. He has been hurt so much that the team is pretty much used to him not being there anyway. He has a chance to blossom into a superstar, but he also has a chance to blow out his knee again. For $20 million, it’s probably not worth the gamble for a “win now” team like the Bucks. But it is the perfect gamble for a rebuilding team like the Bulls. This could be a win, win situation.
20 million a year for Parker. Wow
Agreed. How much do these players need. This has Derrick Rose written all over it.
Not that bad. This is only a two year deal. Rose was signed for 5.
What’s the absolute worst thing that happens? He busts up his knee and never plays again.
How does that impact the Bulls? They lose $20M this season – a year where they had a ton of cap room with nobody great to spend it on. That’s literally it. They take a hit for one year where they’re supposed to be rebuilding anyways. And the Bulls certainly aren’t hurting for money. The downside of this deal is pretty minimal at best.
The second year of the deal is a team option, so if he gets injured or under performs, the Bulls can cut him loose after one year. It’s not that bad a deal
It’s a perfect deal for the Bulls.
Dont even add Asik’s contract into next year’s cap space. He is either going to get stretched over 3 years at 3.9M or traded with a 2nd or two to someone.
Freaking out over 20M a year with 2nd not even guaranteed? Dude get a grip, George Hill makes that. G-e-o-r-g-e “Over the” Hill.
If anything be disappointed it’s not a 3 or 4 year deal. Wendell Carter is a rookie, you hope he plans out, but you already know Mark and Parker can ball in this league. Slightly sad the Sixers didnt sign him, but the combined production from Bjelica, Amir, and Chandler for 1 year isnt terrible for only 17.5M
Damn, this is PERFECT! Got him on a short term deal. If he proves he can play SF next to Markannen and stay healthy, they can extend a long term deal for the hometown kid, if not… they let him walk. A WIN WIN!
Excellent, zero risk, incredibly high reward move for the Bulls. The ONLY risk is Parker getting injured, or playing poorly, and losing out on the 20mil they gave him this year..
If he performs well, the Bulls will have the best shot to either keep him for another year, or work out an extension for Parker.
If he works out well with the Bulls current core, then next season they can continue adding to their core by adding 1 max free agent, and also by adding a role player or two, and another 1st round pick..
Adding 1 significant talent, a couple of role players, and another late lottery, or mid 1st rounder would be EXACTLY what this team needs to cap off their rebuild and properly round out their core group currently consisting of Markkanen, Parker, Carter Jr., LaVine, Dunn, Portis, and Valentine..That could end up allowing the Bulls to go into the 2019 season with a solid core of 8 foundation pieces, 2 quality role players, and a young mid-first round talent to round everything out..Then, they can fill their other roster spots with a vet minimum back-up PG and another 3&D wing, and/or then take a gamble on a couple two-way contracts with one or two UDFA’s…
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the front office is actually, successfully moving forward with this rebuild..Not to mention, in just two seasons, they might possibly have built a strong, young, and highly competitive team, with a very bright future!! I NEVER THOUGHT this current front office was even remotely capable of building a contender from scratch, yet it is fortunately looking like they might just prove me wrong!!
Great move for Milwaukee, they get rid of him finally, also is a good option for Chicago, could be a very good guy coming off the bench if healthy, as been mentioned is not much of a risk, so good move.
I think is a win/win/win situation all 3 parts might be winners here. I do agree with players might wanna join Giannis in Milwaukee, why not? This year was already the 3rd best player in the league, behind AD & LBJ… for sure players rather go to Milwaukee than Chicago right now.
Parker is better for the Bulls than Rodney Hood, but also better for the Cavs since the Bulls might be the last big bidder for him. Hood could be a bad influence in Sacto and Atlanta wants picks.
CLE projects last now in the Central, bummer. DET leads in titles with 9, Bulls have 8 and CLE worked up to 3rd with 7! The last 6, the last 6 years James was here.
The trend for short contracts continues, apparently satisfying everyone’s agenda.
Good bye you won’t be missed