Milwaukee Bucks: Questions Remain On Jabari Parker’s Fit With The Bucks

Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker is coming off one of his worst games as a professional. Is he a long-term fit with the Bucks?

In their 112-108 loss to the Boston Celtics, the team battled from behind the entire night. After giving up 42 first quarter points, it seemed the Milwaukee Bucks would disappoint its sellout crowd.

On an average night, most fans come to see Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker deliver hope of playoff basketball returning to Milwaukee.

With Antetokounmpo positioning himself as one of the league’s top players, Parker has also picked up his game in 2016-2017. However, last week the 3rd year forward was punished for speaking publicly on locker room matters.

In response, Parker played with energy and put up solid numbers. It was encouraging to see him respond positively rather than distance himself from the team. Therefore, any discussion involving trading Parker would have to take into account his maturity and affinity for Milwaukee.

These two qualities are tough to come by in a league filled with young players looking to get paid and play in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.

While good character is certainly important when building a team, it alone won’t bring a championship to Milwaukee. Despite bringing his scoring average to over 20 ppg, Parker continues to struggle defensively and is prone to miserable performances such as Saturday night’s game.

In his worst game this season, Parker scored only four points while shooting 15% from the field. On the positive side, he did pull down eight rebounds.

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Certainly, every player has put together a bad game; however, it was not just his lack of scoring that creates concern. Down the stretch, Parker was a liability to his team by allowing two wide open layups.

The Celtics took advantage of his poor defensive awareness with back cuts coming from the baseline. Instead of positioning himself to see both the ball and his man, Parker kept his focus on the ball handler, leaving him out of position.

Taking notice, Coach Kidd took a timeout and sent him to the bench. At this point, Kidd should have sensed Parker was not going to snap out of his slump and keep him seated for the remaining minutes.

Instead, he returned and made a crucial turnover that cost Milwaukee a chance for the win. After, coming up with a turnover of their own, the Bucks had a chance for a game-winner in front of a sold out crowd.

Once Milwaukee had possession of the ball, Parker looked as if he would attack the basket as we have seen him do all year. Rather, he picked up his dribble, panicked and threw the ball out of bounds near half court.

While the pass did not ultimately cost them the game as the Celtics missed their last second shot. It was an embarrassing moment for a player with All-Star aspirations.

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With February’s trade deadline approaching quickly, any discussion involving Jabari Parker must be thorough. Clearly, he has taken a giant step forward this season and would require a massive return. However, there are still question marks to his game that could justify a potential trade.