Jabari Parker’s tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks has been marked by disappointment. Regrettably, Milwaukee needs to cut its losses now and let Parker walk in free agency.
When the Milwaukee Bucks selected Jabari Parker with the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, he was supposed to be the franchise’s savior. Parker was a universally-lauded prospect coming off a dominant year at Duke. It made sense.
Two ACL tears and a Giannis Antetokounmpo later, Parker is set to enter restricted free agency. He is not the face of the franchise. His future with the Bucks — in any capacity — is in serious doubt.
With Parker’s immense $20.3 million cap hold on the books, the Bucks are well over the salary cap. Renouncing Parker’s rights (along with Shabazz Muhammad and Jason Terry’s) and guaranteeing Malcolm Brogdon’s salary would leave the Bucks with roughly $6.5 million in space. It’s something, but not enough to add the impact player Parker could be.
It’s unclear what the Bucks would have to offer to keep a potential impact player in Parker. ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported the Bucks offered Parker an extension worth roughly three years and $54 million back in October.
Following a disappointing year and facing an uninviting free agency period, Parker isn’t likely to command that much. If Parker doesn’t play out 2018-19 on the qualifying offer, I’d expect him to land a three-year pact in the $40-45 million range (trending toward the lower end if he can secure a player option on the third year, the higher end if not).
At that price tag, modest as it may seem, the Bucks would be better off letting Parker walk for the following three reasons.