Milwaukee Bucks: Should Jabari Parker get a max contract?
Prior to his knee injury last season, Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker was a lock for a max contract. Now, his value is up in the air.
Jabari Parker is going to give the Milwaukee Bucks front office many sleepless nights this summer. Up until his knee injury, he was on the path to a max contract once his rookie deal expired. In just his third season, Parker was averaging 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steals per game.
The Bucks had invested huge court time in the young budding star in an effort to groom him. His star was on the rise. Parker was comfortable playing off the ball, deferring to team leader Giannis Antetokounmpo. His 3-point shooting improved from his first two years where he shot a combined 13-of-51 (25.5 percent).
In his third year Parker, shot 65-for-178 from deep before his injury, improving to 36.5 percent. The Bucks appeared to be developing a tremendous Big 3 of Parker, Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.
Now, thanks to Paker’s second ACL tear, Middleton has taken the leap to the next level and Parker is coming off the bench in a super-sub role. Eric Bledsoe has replaced him in the Big 3. As a result, the Bucks need to make a decision about whether to offer Parker a max deal or risk another team taking him for nothing.
The pros
There are several pros to offering Parker a max contract. At 22 years old, Parker has shown that he can really cut it in the league. He appears to have a promising future in the NBA with massive upside.
He has built a level of chemistry with Middleton and Antetokounmpo, which may not be as present this year thanks to the time on the sidelines, but will come back quickly. If he can build the same level of understanding with point guard Bledsoe, the Bucks will be scary moving forward.
Also, locking Parker into a long-term, max contract means the Bucks’ core would be looking good for at least two seasons. Antetokounmpo is signed until the 2020-21 season. Middleton is signed until 2019-20, with his final year being a player option.
Bledsoe is signed until the end of next season, but if the team is successful I can see him re-signing back with the Milwaukee Bucks for a longer contract. Having this core to build around long-term gives the Bucks a good platform to build a potential championship roster.
The cons
Parker’s injury last season is a major cause for concern. He has never played a full season in the NBA. His first season was cut short by a knee injury after just 25 games. This injury extended into his second year.
Then last season, Parker went down with a second knee injury. This caused him to miss the final two months of the season. He also missed more than half of this current season.
Having talent on a roster is good, but having talent on the court is what wins games. If Parker cannot stay on the court for a full season, how are the Bucks going to use his talents to win a championship?
The other con is if you pay max money to an injury-prone player, what are you going to offer Bledsoe next season? What about when Middleton comes to the end of his current contract? If Parker gets offered the max, then surely the other two deserve big money as well.
This is going to severely impact the ability of the Bucks to keep this core together long-term and put a supporting cast around them. Parker is currently the fourth option of this core. Middleton has now surpassed Parker in terms of his value to this team.
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Currently, Middleton is only on $13 million a season, as the result of the salary cap when he signed his contract. Parker could be offered more than that. Is he worth the max? Probably not for this Milwaukee Bucks team.