The Bulls made big news over the weekend by signing free agent Jabari Parker, the former Simeon high school standout who was drafted second overall in the 2014 NBA draft.
Bringing the 23-year-old forward back to Chicago is not without risk, as he’s had two ACL surgeries, surgeries that will make it even more difficult to overcome the two biggest question marks surrounding his game:
- Can he defend at even an adequate level?
- Is he athletic enough to stay on the perimeter or is he best suited to play the four?
Parker spent the majority of his four-year tenure in Milwaukee as a power forward, where he thrived offensively in the 2016-17 season, averaging 20.1 points per game on 49% shooting before tearing his ACL.
I know that the Bulls have come out and said they view Parker as a 3:
The Chicago Bulls plan to use Jabari Parker largely as a small forward. (Via @wojespn)
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) July 14, 2018
But Parker was the league’s 433rd rated defender last season. Going forward with him and Zach LaVine, the league’s 511th rated defender, as your wing combo is no bueno. If Jabari Parker is going to be a Bull long term, it makes much more sense to play him at the four.
With the Bulls using lottery picks the last two years on Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr, adding Parker to that group gives the Bulls little reason to invest much more in their frontcourt.
That’s where Bobby Portis comes in.
Portis set career highs in minutes, points, rebounds, and three-point shooting last season. The former 1st-round pick will be a restricted free agent next summer and internal discussions about extending him have reportedly been going on for months.
If the Bulls pick up Parker’s team option for the 2019-2020 season, that leaves the Bulls with $27.8M of practical cap space, making it fairly easy for them to clear up enough room to add a veteran max contract, either next summer or the year after. If the Bulls decide to extend Parker and Portis long term, then there’s just about zero chance the Bulls could free up enough cap space to add a true star to this core via free agency.
Bobby Portis is a good player, but John Paxson and Gar Forman have gotten into plenty of trouble in the past by tying themselves down to good players. “Good” isn’t good enough in the NBA, the Bulls need to be better than good.
Giving $40M a year to Parker and LaVine is questionable enough, throwing another $12M+ a year at Portis could seal the Bulls’ fate in salary cap Hell.
