Jabari Parker is officially a Chicago Bull, but he did gain interest from a few teams around the league when he was still a restricted free agent, including the Brooklyn Nets.
The Nets opened up cap space by trading Jeremy Lin to the Atlanta Hawks, and according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Nets “kicked the tires” on signing the former Milwaukee Bucks forward.
On “Lowe Post,” @ZachLowe_NBA podcast, @WindhorstESPN said he’s pretty sure Nets “kicked the tires” on Jabari as they were opening up cap space in the Lin trade but thought the price was too high. Parker got $40 million over two (with team option in year 2) from Bulls.
— NetsDaily (@NetsDaily) July 17, 2018
Parker ended up signing a two-year deal with the Bulls for $40 million with a team option on the second year, but that was too high of a price for the Nets. Windhorst also believes that the Bulls had the price driven up on them, and $40 million wasn't the original offer that they had given.
The Nets have been trying to keep cap space open for next year so they can potentially have two max spots open and try to change the outlook of their future. They could have done a one-year deal with a team option for the second, but a straight up two-year deal with Parker would have limited them to only one max spot next year. It would have been a good flier to take on him this year, especially considering the flashes of dominance he has shown when he is healthy.
Parker is headed back to his hometown, where he gets a chance to be a part of a young but promising core. Just a few months ago there were a lot of questions surrounding the Bulls and what their future was going to look like, but they are slowly building a core that could actually make a little noise next season.
Follow Us
Subscribe