Milwaukee Bucks: 4 potential restricted free agency suitors for Jabari Parker
By Rohan Katti
With the deadline for extensions now past, Jabari Parker will hit restricted free agency in 2018. Who are the teams that could lure him away from the Milwaukee Bucks?
One of the major summer storylines for the Milwaukee Bucks was the extension situation with former number two overall pick Jabari Parker.
There were arguments on both sides of the table, but per NBA rules, extensions with the 2014 NBA draft class needed to be finalized by October 16th at 6p.m ET. That deadline has now passed, and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Matt Velazquez reported that the Bucks and Parker failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension.
Jabari Parker and Milwaukee Bucks ended talks, no deal. He'll enter restricted free agency in July, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 16, 2017
No deal between the Bucks and Jabari Parker per source. He's under contract this season and will be a restricted free agent next summer.
— Matt Velazquez (@Matt_Velazquez) October 16, 2017
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With no deal reached, Parker is slated to hit the restricted free agent market in 2018. Given Parker’s talent, there will undoubtedly be significant interest amongst the NBA to acquire his services. But before we jump into that potential list of teams, there needs to be some assumptions made regarding Parker’s season.
These assumptions are that Parker returns to play during the 2017-18 season, continues to play at a high level after his return, and that he’ll likely be looking for a deal that pays him upwards of $17 million per year.
With all of that said, it is time to delve into a list of teams that could lure Jabari Parker away from the Milwaukee Bucks.
(Note: Team salary cap figures were determined by using the NBA’s projected 2018-19 salary cap figure of $101 million and presuming the given team has renounced all free agent cap holds.)