Milwaukee Bucks: How they’re getting their groove and Jabari Parker back

The impending return of forward Jabari Parker comes at a time when the Milwaukee Bucks have been revitalized under the guidance of interim head coach Joe Prunty.

In just over a week’s time, the outlook of the Milwaukee Bucks has been reinvigorated on the heels of addressing one of their long pressing concerns.

After notably shaking things up by showing Jason Kidd, the Bucks’ then-head coach for over three and a half years, the door last week, the team has rattled off four straight wins with interim head coach Joe Prunty at the helm.

Of course, that has been helped by the fact that the Bucks have hit one of their easier stretches of the season to date, facing a run of lottery-bound teams in the Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets and the Chicago Bulls as well as a Joel Embiid and J.J. Redick-less Philadelphia 76ers team in their most recent win on Monday night.

But read any postgame quotes from various players or the tone general manager Jon Horst has been striking in the wake of Kidd’s ousting and the back to basics (or just some semblance of basics) approach Prunty has deployed in his early tenure has the Bucks reaping the rewards early on in the change.

While early returns in the transition from Kidd to Prunty has the makings of the Bucks salvaging what had been an underachieving season, the Bucks will soon be getting a big boon, whose presence weighs heavily on their long-term future.

Nearly a year to the day he went down with his second ACL injury in as many years, fourth-year forward Jabari Parker will make his long awaited return to action when the Bucks take on the New York Knicks on Friday night.

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Before his year was cut short, the growth Parker exhibited in his third season had him showing signs of his All-Star-like potential, if he hadn’t already landed in that discussion for his efforts last season.

After all, Parker averaged career highs in points (20.1), assists (2.8), three-point percentage (36.5) and true shooting percentage (56.3) in his 51 total appearances during the 2016-17 season, just to name a few numbers.

With the growing confidence he displayed as a capable scorer from all areas of the floor, as well as developing a greater feel for the game with the ball in his hands, it had truly felt like Parker had finally arrived. In doing so, he fortified a viable, working foundation next to both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton for the Bucks along the way.

Of course, the way we talk about where and how Parker had blossomed before his injury might not carry the same degree of effectiveness as he finds his way getting back up to game shape, building up his confidence, amongst other things.

Anyone hoping or penciling in a seamless transition for the 22-year-old can only look to the time Parker returned from his first ACL injury during the beginning of the 2015-16 season, which Parker shed light on the struggles he endured mentally in a profile written by The Ringer’s Jordan Ritter Conn last year, which unfortunately came out the day after he tore his left ACL for the second time:

"“I had restrictions,” Parker says. “Certain things I just wasn’t allowed to do.” The biggest: no 3-pointers. Kidd said he wanted Parker to develop his game in the post and the midrange. Parker struggled, at times, to fit his game within that structure. “I was playing with fear,” he says. “I was thinking all the time: ‘Can I do this? Can I do that?’ That’s one of my weaknesses. I’ve always been a people-pleaser. I just had to let go.”"

Putting the Kidd stuff aside, albeit in a grumbling manner, the weight of building up expectations when not taking into account the mental aspect of a player returning from injury will hopefully not be lost on most Bucks fans who are looking forward to seeing the Duke product return to the floor.

Regardless, the return of Parker intersects at an interesting point in the Bucks’ season and even more so after the team’s decision to part ways with Kidd.

As Prunty has gotten the Bucks back on track in the early going, integrating a player of both Parker’s caliber as well as his faults doesn’t hold the same level of unpredictability. The long-time assistant has not only managed the workload of the team’s more prominent players, but simplified the team’s approach tactically as well.

That’s also boosted by the fact that Prunty has defined the team’s rotation in a way Kidd rarely established for the better part of his stay in Milwaukee (small sample size, I know). Even with the level of relief that’s pulsing throughout Bucks fans everywhere, it’s hard not to be encouraged by how Parker will be in better hands under Prunty once he slots back into the team’s rotation from Friday night on.

At this point in time, any success or struggles Parker experiences over the next two to three months will be hard to outweigh the level of uncertainty hanging over his future in Milwaukee as he’s due to hit restricted free agency on July 1 of this upcoming summer.

Next: Win In 6 Podcast #180: Joe Prunty’s new dawn, Jabari Parker’s imminent return

But no matter what the future holds, the Bucks will certainly be eager to get as many looks with Parker alongside Antetokounmpo, Middleton, Eric Bledsoe and Co. They need to evaluate the big picture while dealing with the reality of having to maximize their current window to the best of their ability too.