The Bucks Future Still Rests on Jabari Parker’s Recovery

The Milwaukee Bucks have assembled an impressive amount of talent over the last three years, but the one guy that garners the bulk of the attention is Giannis Antetokounmpo.

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The ‘Greek Freak’ showed a significant amount of improvement in a season that saw Jabari Parker, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, fall to a debilitating injury.

The 2014 NCAA All-American suffered a left ACL tear on Dec. 15, 2014 and prematurely ended a promising rookie campaign that had the potential to end in a NBA Rookie of the Year nod.

Ultimately, Andrew Wiggins ran away with the 2014-15 ROY award following a stellar second half to the season.

Parker averaged 12.3 points on 49 percent shooting with 5.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 25 games before his injury. Parker’s per 36 minute averages lived up to the makings of his No. 2 pick billing with tremendous room for growth.

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Antetokounmpo’s raw athleticism started to make people forget about Parker and the significance to this team’s success. He’s not just a piece though, he’s the piece.

Don’t get me wrong, Antetokounmpo is a great piece to have, but the Bucks need somebody who can put the ball in the bucket.

That’s precisely what Parker does, and he does it efficiently.

The most impressive part of the former Duke sensation’s repertoire is the smoothness of his mid-range game.

Parker is extremely effective at getting up an efficient shot when and where he wants to. The rate at which he is able to get that shot is pretty surprising considering Parker is not the most physically imposing athlete.

Dec 5, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker (12) drives past Miami Heat guard

(3) in the third quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

However, he seems to have this innate ability to get exactly where he wants to on the court.

None of this is to knock his athleticism. It’s quite the opposite. Parker is sneaky athletic, and it plays right into his hands.

He almost had the makings of someone who players took too lightly last season.

It certainly helped that Parker was able to knock down mid-range jumpers at a 44 percent clip, and that was on 143 attempts which is a decent sample size.

The efficiency at which Parker nailed that shot put him among the very best in the league. The absurdity of it all was that it made up over half of his offense.

Fifty-five percent of Parker’s shot selection came from 4-16 feet from the basket.

Surprisingly, Parker was slightly more efficient from the toughest spot on the floor, the deep twos. He knocked down nearly 45 percent of his 58 attempts from 16-23 feet.

That’s still a pretty good sample size, but it’s hard to imagine he would be able to keep that up for the duration of an entire season.

That being said, Parker was great about picking his spots based on the fewer amount of attempts from the most unforgiving spot on the floor, but it still made up nearly a quarter of his offense.

One thing that was unclear with Parker coming out of college was whether or not his three-point shot would translate to the league

At first glance, Parker’s NBA range didn’t appear to. He only shot 25 percent from three, but the sample size was extremely small, only 16 attempts.

Nov 26, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker (12) shoots during the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

However, there was a reason Parker shied away from multiple downtown attempts. The range just wasn’t there, but he didn’t force it either.

Knowing what one can and cannot do efficiently marks the sign of someone with a high basketball IQ.

Something that Bucks fans should hope to see more of in the future is Parker attacking the rim. He shot a blistering 81.4 percent at the rim, but it was only 17 percent of his offense.

It’s unlikely to happen this upcoming season with Parker coming off an ACL tear. He will probably play a bit tentative, at least at first, and rely on his mid-range game move than ever.

All reports suggest Parker’s recovery has gone well, and he’s on schedule with the timetable that was set before for him.

At this point, it’s doubtful Parker returns for the start of the season, but it shouldn’t be long before he’s back on the court to reclaim his team.

The “Greek Freak” is just keeping the seat warm.

I’m not suggesting the two players can’t coexist, but the idea these two players are a match made in heaven doesn’t do it justice either.

There’s going to have to be some give from No. 34, since Antetokounmpo struggles to score especially without the ball in his hands.

Antetokounmpo does have the makings of a two-way player, but the Scottie Pippen comparisons need to stop.

People either don’t realize or forget how good Pippen was, because the greatest player of all time over shadowed him every step of the way.

Pippen was a 20 point plus scorer during the Chicago Bulls memorable ’90s run and made a nearly indisputable case that he was the greatest wing defender off all time.

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Talk about a remarkable eight year run.

There is a reason why Pippen is a hall of famer and part of the NBA’s 50 greatest players off all-time. That is a billing that Antetokounmpo just won’t live up to.

Pippen was also a very underrated playmaker, something that fans expect Antetokounmpo to become.

However, the more Antetokounmpo has the ball in his hands the less Parker will, so that’s something to carefully consider.

It’s funny how the assumption that Antetokounmpo will put it all together and just get there is such a given when it’s far more likely he ends up like Nicolas Batum, a fine player but not a game changer.

There is a place for him on this team, and Antetokounmpo definitely brings something special to the table with his skill set.

He will continue to produce monstrous highlights the rest of his career, but it may not go much further than that.

In the end, the Bucks still need Parker to get 100 percent healthy. This team can’t get to where it wants to go and reach their championship aspirations without him.

Next: Could Giannis Antetokounmpo Really Play At Center?

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• Piecing together the Milwaukee Bucks’ dream starting 5 in 5 years
• Predicting Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s 2023-24 stats for the Bucks
• Grade the trade: Bucks land reputable backup guard in swap with Pacers
• New workout video should have Milwaukee Bucks fans excited