Milwaukee Bucks: Trade season, why Jabari Parker is key to championship hopes

Why Jabari is the Bucks’ only hope

Malcolm Brogdon, Middleton, and Bledsoe are not good enough to be the central supporting pieces of a championship team. They’re great players, and not all that far off the level required, but they aren’t quite good enough now, and at their ages (25, 26, 28) they probably won’t develop into the elite talent the Bucks need beside Antetokounmpo. Parker still can, though.

As the aforementioned players are still very good, and could have parts to play in the future in their own way, the Bucks won’t be in position to easily find another star.

With Giannis and that more than solid group at present, the chances of the Bucks finding themselves in the running for a top lottery pick any time soon are slim to none. Of course, Antetokounmpo, himself, was picked outside of the lottery, but repeating that feat is near impossible.

Bringing in a marquee free agent isn’t an option either. The Bucks won’t have the required cap space this offseason, unless they could trade away Henson, Matthew Dellavedova, and Mirza Teletovic, all of whom are widely considered to be not worth their contracts.

By the time Teletovic comes off the books in 2019, the Bucks will have to pay to keep Bledsoe and Brogdon, as their deals will expire, and Khris Middleton is also likely to opt out of the 13 million he is owed that summer and sign a more lucrative deal. Henson and Dellavedova’s deals don’t expire until 2020.

Long story short, the Bucks wont find their second star in free agency.

Jabari has the tools to be a deadly shooter from anywhere on the court, the ability to score one-on-one, can run the court in transition almost as well as Giannis, and be a nightmare to guard, especially when the opponent’s best defender is already struggling to handle Antetokounmpo.

We’ve seen Parker operate expertly along the baseline, and hit corner threes at a fair rate (43.6 percent last season), and that was in Jason Kidd‘s uncreative and stagnant offense. When the Bucks complete their search for a new head coach this offseason, their new offensive scheme should be much more inspiring than what Jason Kidd put forth.

Within a new offense, Jabari could easily surpass his scoring highs. For as skilled of a player as he was, too often Jabari would drive without purpose or take too many long twos, as Jason Kidd wasn’t big on encouraging the most efficient shots. While he was still able to put up over 20 points per game last season, there’s no doubt Parker can improve by leaps and bounds.