In the second straight year, the Milwaukee Bucks saw their season come to a disappointing end in the first round of the playoffs after a grueling seven-game series against the Boston Celtics. This has immediately pushed forward the future of the franchise ahead of what could be a busy offseason.
One of these big questions lies with the future of veteran forward Jabari Parker, who is set to enter the free-agent market for the first time in his career as likely a restricted free agent. With that in mind, All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo voiced a great amount of confidence that Parker would be back with the team next season, according to Eric Nehm of ESPN.
Had a mistake earlier on this Giannis quote. Here is the full version, which might be even stronger: pic.twitter.com/G8AUma0LRN
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) April 29, 2018
There is much conviction in what Antetokounmpo is stating to the point where it gives off the vibe that he would be utterly surprised if Parker decided to sign elsewhere in free agency. The reasoning behind this may simply be because the team can make him a restricted free agent with a roughly $4.3 million qualifying offer for the 2018-19 season that will allow for them to match any offer he receives from another team.
With Antetokounmpo already coming out to make such a strong statement would lend to the belief that the team will do whatever it takes to bring him back. Parker has proven to be a key part of the puzzle despite having suffered a pair of ACL tears in first three years in the league.
The 23-year-old showed plenty of reason for optimism through portions of the season after he made his return to the court back in February. He wasn't quite the offensive contributor he could have been, but more time removed from the injury should allow him to get closer to the player he was prior to the second ACL tear. That said, all of this may simply come down to how much the Bucks are willing to spend to bring him back in the fold for the long haul.
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