The Milwaukee Bucks are slated to get Jabari Parker back on Friday when they host the New York Knicks. It’s a big moment for Parker, as he has yet to take the floor this year due to a torn ACL he suffered during the 2016-17 season.
But beyond the scope of this season, it’s the start of what is a massive stretch for the former No. 2 overall pick. Parker is slated to become a restricted free agent this offseason after failing to come to terms with Milwaukee on a contract extension. It was a rough bargaining position for both sides — Parker is a very good basketball player, but injury concerns make giving him a long-term deal a difficult proposition.
According to Zach Lowe of ESPN, the Bucks were willing to give Parker a ton of money, but not enough to satiate his contract demands and re-sign with the team. Lowe wrote that while Parker wants to be a max contract-caliber player, Milwaukee had a ceiling on what it was willing to offer.
Parker conceives of himself as a star — a max player. Extension talks between Parker and Bucks fizzled in October, and Parker will enter restricted free agency this summer. The Bucks were prepared during those October talks to offer a three-year deal worth around $54 million, according to sources familiar with the discussions. The two sides discussed other permutations — shorter deals, incentive-laden four-year deals — and the talks never narrowed to a single on-paper offer. Still: Milwaukee’s upper limit in annual salary — about $18 million per season — was clear, sources say.
Again, Parker is one of the more difficult guys to commit a ton of money to because of his checkered injury history. He tore the ACL in his left knee during his rookie campaign in addition to the injury he suffered last season, so it’s no surprise that Milwaukee was hesitant to make a massive commitment to him, even though he was averaging 20.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game before going down last season.
One would assume that Milwaukee is going to try to do everything it can to keep Parker around after this summer, but this might prove that all a team needs to do is believe in Parker enough to cross a certain salary threshold to acquire his services.
