Jabari Parker nearing offer sheet deal with Chicago Bulls

Less than 24 hours after starting an impromptu pickup game in Bay View, Jabari Parker could be making his way out of Milwaukee.

The restricted free agent is getting close to striking an offer-sheet deal with his hometown Chicago Bulls according to multiple reports. Per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, the deal would be in the area of two years, $40 million. Friday at 11:59 p.m. marks the deadline for teams to pull their qualifying offer and thus renounce restricted free agents, which represents part of the holdup.

The Bulls aren't certain if they will need to negotiate with Parker under the structures of restricted free agency — a contract with at least two guaranteed years that can be matched by the previous team — or if the Bucks will renounce Parker and make him an unrestricted free agent, which would present a blank slate when it comes to coming up with a new contract.

Milwaukee, with Ersan Ilyasova and Brook Lopez set to sign free-agent deals, is limited financially when it comes to trying to bring back Parker. With those two players included, the Bucks have 15 players on their roster and a cap figure of about $116 million, which is $14 million above the salary cap and about $7.7 million under the luxury tax.

If Parker leaves, the Bucks would only be able to sign new players to the roster on minimum deals since they are over the cap. 

The Bucks will be hard-capped by the Ilyasova and Lopez signings, meaning they can't go above $129.8 million to sign Parker. The hard cap comes into play when a team above the cap uses one of its exceptions — mid-level or bi-annual — to sign a player and the Bucks are using both this summer to bring in Ilyasova and Lopez.

Thus, by agreeing to sign Ilyasova in the opening hour of free agency to a contract that would necessitate using most of their mid-level exception, the Bucks consciously hard-capped themselves knowing it would limit their ability to bring back Parker. After that, it was up to the market to decide what would happen next.

Milwaukee could create some more wiggle room under the hard cap by waiving Brandon Jennings and Tyler Zeller who are on non-guaranteed deals, granting about $4.1 million in breathing room under the tax and hard cap. The Bucks could theoretically also try using trades to shed salary, but doing so would likely either cost future draft picks or sending away young players on team-friendly deals.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Bucks aren't expected to match an offer sheet extended to Parker. Milwaukee could, however, talk with the Bulls about a sign-and-trade prior to an offer sheet getting signed. The theoretical benefit there would be that the Bucks are not limited by the terms of restricted free agency and could sign Parker to the deal Chicago wants while getting something in return.

If the Bucks don't renounce Parker or strike a deal for a sign-and-trade, the Bulls could simply then agree to an offer sheet with Parker and force the Bucks to match or lose him.

Parker, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 draft, hasn't gotten much of an opportunity to showcase his talents in Milwaukee, mostly due to injury. He tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in December of his rookie season, performed well in a season-and-a-half after coming back and then tore that left ACL again in February 2017. That second tear, surgery and rehab stint kept him out for a year before he rejoined the Bucks in February for the stretch run of the season and playoffs.

Brought in to be a star player for what had been a 15-win team, Parker's injuries meant he was passed over by Giannis Antetokounmpo and the team dynamic shifted from the two serving as foundational pieces to mostly revolving around Antetokounmpo, whose meteoric rise put him in the same conversations as some of the top players in the league.

Parker, who was averaging 20.1 points per game in 51 contests during the 2016-'17 season before his second injury, undoubtedly displayed a high level of talent when he was on the court. A dynamic scorer, especially when attacking the rim, Parker also improved his three-point shot from being virtually non-existent to something reliable. Over the past two seasons, Parker shot 37.1% from three-point range in 82 games.

However, there were downsides to his play beyond the injuries. Parker's defense is a clear weakness and his level of hustle was inconsistent at times.

This season brought noticeable strains in the relationship between the Bucks and Parker. In October, the two sides could not reach an extension by the league-imposed deadline and the process frustrated Parker. In January, following the firing of head coach Jason Kidd, the Bucks also let go of assistant coach Frank Johnson who had been brought in by Kidd to work with Parker. Johnson and Parker had built a strong relationship in their few months together as Johnson helped Parker through the loneliness and isolation that come with rehabbing away from the team.

When Parker was able to return to the court, he did so coming off the bench and getting limited minutes as he was slowly integrated back into the team. His playing time was inconsistent all the way into the playoffs when he barely saw the court in Games 1-2 against the Boston Celtics, though when he did he didn't make a strong case to get more.

There was a clear heightened sense of frustration between those first two games and it boiled over heading into Game 3 when Parker publicly aired his grievances.

“For myself, I just try to be a good teammate," Parker said. "I’m not getting what I want right now but there’s a bigger picture. I think I did a better job the second game. Just to touch and harp on the first game, like, I’m human, right? I deserved to be out there, I earned it. Six games (to close the season) and to see that, like, I’m not going to handle it well.

"I have feelings. I’ve been waiting two years. I’ve been waiting all that time and to see myself get cut short — no one’s going to handle that the right way. I just felt like I was cut short, I wasn’t supported and I’m not going to react the right way. I’m human, I was wrong. But going forward, I’ll just try to be a better person, a better man and be there for my teammates.”

Should he land with the Bulls, Parker is expected to slot into their starting small forward position, according to the Chicago Tribune. There would be no such guarantee with the Bucks given the presence of Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton among others.

While nothing is set in stone yet, it's beginning to look likely that Parker's impromptu pickup game Thursday night could also serve as his farewell to Milwaukee. Parker was notably active in the city throughout his time with the Bucks despite his injuries and subsequent rehabs.

If Parker indeed does head to Chicago, it would represent one of the bigger what-ifs in recent Bucks history. He had and continues to have plenty of promise, but his time in Milwaukee never saw that come to fruition.