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

If the Bucks re-sign Jabari, what happens then?

Keeping Parker quickly puts the squeeze on the Bucks financially, but just as significantly, it reduces their options in terms of adding new players to their roster. Re-signing Parker to even a moderate deal would realistically rid the Bucks of the chance to get under the salary cap and become free agent players in the year to come.

As a result, the best route to maximizing the talent on the roster in that scenario would likely involve trusting in and re-signing many players already on the team, and facing a significant luxury tax bill to do so.

This road keeps the current core together but even with somewhat modest projections could put the Bucks over $20 million into the luxury tax as soon as next season. With that estimate being somewhat optimistic, they might still have to dump at least one of Henson or Dellavedova to reduce that bill.

Choosing this route would be a bet on internal development under coach Mike Budenholzer, a bet on Parker staying healthy and figuring out his on-court struggles, and maybe also a bet on Jon Horst being able to make a good trade using those future contracts down the line.