Milwaukee Bucks: What impact does Jabari Parker’s future have on the present and future?

The path to future cap space

In this year’s free agency, the Bucks will not have the flexibility to add a top tier, expensive free agent, no matter what they do with Jabari. They could open up some space if they were able to find a trade partner willing to take on the costly contracts of John Henson and Matthew Dellavedova, but that will be tough this summer while both still have two years remaining on those deals.

In the summer of 2019, not only will it be more realistic for the Bucks to be able to trade those expensive contracts as expirings, but they’ll have some significant free agents of their own too. Even if the Bucks are looking to re-sign some or all of those, they’ll at least have the luxury of entering free agency with a cap flexibility they haven’t seen in years.

Khris Middleton will most likely opt out of his final contract year as he definitely deserves more than the $13 million per year owed to him. Eric Bledsoe and Malcolm Brogdon would also join him on the open market, unless the Bucks come to terms on early extensions with any of the three this summer.

While looking at the Bucks’ cap sheet for next summer, keep in mind that Middleton and Bledsoe have a cap hold which is 150 percent of their contract, while Brogdon’s cap hold is about $2 million. The salary cap in 2019 free agency is currently projected to be approximately $108 million.

If Parker returns on a deal of any kind, the Bucks’ options for the future will be more limited in 2019 and beyond, while a significant multi-year deal could leave Milwaukee financially restricted for years to come.