Milwaukee Bucks Roundtable: Important free agency decisions lie ahead

Q3. What do you think will actually end up happening with Jabari Parker, and what timeline do you foresee for his free agency reaching some kind of resolution?

TK: I do think the Bucks will end up keeping him as I think he is still a bet worth taking and they can’t afford to give up on any upside. The market might force Milwaukee to match a slightly more expensive offer as a tanking team might want to bet on his upside. There is not that much money in the market, though, so I’m not pessimistic about that.

BR: I think the Bucks will explore and ultimately accept a sign-and-trade deal from a rebuilding team with assets to spare. I also think a lot of it depends on where other free agents land this summer. Teams that may have struck out might look at Parker as a plan B or C with high upside. I don’t think it will be resolved before sometime in late July or early August.

JT: At this point, I feel very certain Jabari’s free agency will linger on for multiple weeks and/or months and like Ben said, I think the Bucks will exhaust all avenues of possibly gaining something of value, albeit of minimal stature, considering the level of risk surrounding Jabari.

(puts on prediction hat and hovers hands over a crystal ball) The spirits tell me…July 26th…is when we’ll know if Jabari will stay in Milwaukee or not.

AM: I agree that it will drag on, in spite of my earlier note that I think that would be detrimental to the Bucks. I feel like he might end up signing the qualifying offer. I don’t think the Bucks will give him the kind of offer he feels deserving of, although I could be proven very wrong, and all indications are that most of the teams with cap space are interested in retaining it to absorb contracts and add assets or to be even bigger players next summer.