In tonight's game against the New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker will make his season debut. He has been sidelined for almost one year after suffering the second torn ACL injury in his career. As he makes his way back from the injury, Parker will be held under a minutes restriction. He is expected to see, at most, 15 minutes of action tonight. The 6-foot-8 forward will become a restricted free agent this July, after not agreeing to terms on a contract extension with the Bucks. He has 32 games left in the regular season to show off his game.

According to ESPN's Zach Lowe, last October the Bucks were ready to offer a three-year, $54 million extension for Parker's services. The latter, apparently, did not agree. Lowe says:

“Parker conceives of himself as a star — a max player. Extension talks between Parker and Bucks fizzled in October, and Parker will enter restricted free agency this summer. The Bucks were prepared during those October talks to offer a three-year deal worth around $54 million, according to sources familiar with the discussions. The two sides discussed other permutations — shorter deals, incentive-laden four-year deals — and the talks never narrowed to a single on-paper offer. Still: Milwaukee's upper limit in annual salary — about $18 million per season — was clear, sources say.”

The main reason the Bucks are reluctant from offering Parker a max – or close to max – deal is his injury history. He has missed 144 out of 296 possible regular-season games since being drafted in 2014. Injury concerns were the same reason Stephen Curry signed only a 4-year, $44 million dollar deal with the Warriors five years ago. Parker was offered a similar deal, but he decided to trust his talents. Only time will tell if Parker did right by dismissing the Bucks' offer.