Utah Jazz: Pros and cons of trading for Jabari Parker
Cons of trading for Jabari Parker
Since entering the league as a promising young talent prior to the 2014-15 season, Jabari Parker has gained a lot of attention for some of the flaws in his game.
In his first season with Chicago after spending the first four years of his career with the Milwaukee Bucks, a bulk of those cons still hold true.
The first con to Utah adding Parker to its roster at the trade deadline this season is the most obvious one and biggest storyline of Parker’s career thus far: his health.
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Staying healthy hasn’t been a big issue so far in 2018-19, but he’s had a hard time staying on the floor in his young five-year career up to this point. Since his rookie season and prior to this year, Parker has averaged 45.8 games per season, with his 76 appearances in 2015-16 remaining as the only year where he has played more than 51 games.
The second con to Utah trading for Parker is the way is contract is currently laid out.
Parker signed a two-year, $40 million deal with the Bulls in the offseason, making $20 million this year and the final $20 million in 2019-20. That’s a lot of money for a guy that is averaging 14.8 points per game and has played in 32 games this season.
Parker does have a 2019-20 team option in his contract, which could be appealing for Utah. But he’s still making a lot of money to not only make a deal work, but to be able continue to add to the team around him.
Jabari Parker’s health and contract are two big concerns that the Jazz should have when evaluating whether or not to add him to their roster this season — and that’s saying nothing of his notable defensive flaws.