Jabari Parker has a $ 2.3 million unsecured contract for next season, of which $ 1.1M would ensure that he remains in Boston’s uniform as soon as the new regular season kicks off. After hovering around a quarter of an hour in each of his first three matches with the green jacket, Parker racked up six consecutive DNPs (Did Not Play), and continued to play in moderation until the match that put the tie to the regular season against the Knicks, where he signed maximums in minutes (27) and points (18).
Perhaps because he saw that he was in a good moment, perhaps because without Jaylen Brown and a discreet bench he did not have much else to look at, the fact is that Brad Stevens gave more prominence to Jabari in the playoffs than in RS starting from the second unit (only one more minute on average, from 13.8 to 14.8, but there it is). And this –facts are facts– Has answered: 8.5 points with percentages of 62% in field goals in his series against the Nets.
Aware of his useless wrist from long distance (32% in his career) as well as unique conditions to attack the rim with aggression and success, Jabari has always turned the weight of his game where he knows that it hurts and generates profitability: from the elbow of the bottle inwards.
Both offensively and defensively, Boston has been a mid-table team this season in a season that promised a lot and has been resolved with an approved scraping, but, despite this and disappointment through, the great revolution in the offices do not fit (or could not) expect another of the same caliber in the locker room, if by this we understand that from the offices of the Garden they intend to respect your spine, that is: Tatum, Brown and Smart … because Kemba Walker has achieved just the opposite of what was expected with his arrival: exhausting patience and not meeting expectations as a replacement for Kyrie Irving and player clutch in the playoffs, all tied to an obscene salary that eliminates any trace of salary flexibility. His name is on the market, waiting for a daring bidder with the size of the Ngorongoro salary to go for him.
The injuries – too many and some serious – took away part of his explosiveness years ago, but not enough to strip him of his poison when he poured his class in the vicinity of the methacrylate. Strong, agile, aesthetic, with a great span, a barbarian instinct for rebounding and an exceptional use of his body when he decides to break the rival lines, the reason that has led Parker to job instability has not been his offensive fragility , because there he is all a Rembrandt, but his laziness in defense (here I crushed him at ease two summers ago), his apathy for the gym (his Apollonian physique comes and goes) and a mediocre IQ to understand that basketball is a sport of team where to share the ball and find the best option, is better than well seen.
Since his departure from Milwaukee, if we look at his record, Duke’s ex has been at the rate of two teams per season. A real nonsense.
- 2018/19: Chicago Bulls y Washington Wizards.
- 2019/20: Atlanta Hakws y Sacramento Kings.
- 2020/21: Sacramento Kings y Boston Celitcs.
Without being a Ridnour, six franchises are still too many for a draft pick 2 that at the time legitimately held the debate of being the best player in a promotion that came out of Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Zach LaVine. , Marcus Smart, Jordan Clarkson…. (What a Draft, my goodness !!)…., Jerami Grant, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Gary Harris, Jusuf Nurkic, Clint Capela, Doug McDermott, Dario Saric… and I could go on. The point is that Jabari, failed in the project of crystallizing himself as a ‘period player’, is very much in time to become, at least, a very profitable member of the NBA.
A peculiar SWOT
Good players with ease and instinct to see the rim are never over in any team, the Brooklyn Nets being the living example. You just need the coach, the philosophy and the right board to find their place and make their strength their maximum mark on the court.
Jabari Parker is a rare offensive talent. In the age of the triple, the NBA languishes in players with talent to create their own shots to the post and in their surroundings, both in static actions and in transition. Parker, physical conditions of pure tweener which, when used well, give it an innate positional versatility, on nights of full performance it is the kind that extracts oil from a salt mine. And that is something that, I insist, should not be taken lightly when it comes to being discarded.
In a similar parallel to Jahlil Okafor –Artists in attack, terrorists in defense–, Jabari has several advantages over the pivot, from better shooting percentages than Jah without, however, being a pure player of frontcourt, coupled with his ability to be dangerous from many more vertices and areas of the parquet, and not only when he receives the ball close to the iron. But in defensive fundamentals they are alike: neither of them is lacking … in fact, it is quite the opposite. Both have sense of momentum and feeling in advance (it is not uncommon to see them place plugs and anticipate certain shooting and definition actions by the rival), but these are not complemented by the maxim in the art of defending: give them a will and a couple of buds with their respective whites.
Does it fit in in Boston? What would your role be?
At the system level, the Celtics, arguably, have the near-perfect org chart to make Boston Jabari’s new home for the coming year and at a bargain price. His ideal role would be to become the sixth man of the roster, since he has helped so many players to meet again in the past and even to relaunch their careers (with cases as recent as Derrick Rose in the Knicks, Jordan Clarkson in Utah or Eric Gordon in the Houston Rockets).
With Brown, Smart, Tatum and Walker (or their replacement in the market), the first unit is served with points, something that does not happen with the second, where after the logical departure of Evan Fournier (FA), only Payton Pritchard seems to stand out. as a guarantee of scoring, and awaiting confirmation from Aaron Nesmith as the hammer hammer from the triple that was in the NCAA.
Jabari Parker, due to his offensive capacity and his unique way of executing it, emerges as a natural and effective solution to enlarge the range of options, propping up the rotation as an extra means of delegation to zone defenses and even some leadership in the absence / rest of the own faces of the franchise players.
As for the challenge of making their virtues shine and hiding their weaknesses, there the role of the head coach (who will no longer be Brad Stevens) will be vital in setting up the perfect lineup. It won’t be very difficult for him when he makes the headlines come together, as Brown and Smart have been bulldogs since their time in the placenta, and Tatum is growing in this district every month.
It will be in those specific moments in which he acts as an offensive beacon on the court, when the Massachusets must consolidate that balance – namely with Tristan Thompson or Grant Williams, of the undrinkable in the rotation in terms of defensive impact (and nothing especially remarkable …) -, plot, I say it already, in which Brad Stevens, now as the maximum leader and not just a baton at the foot of the track, should strive to seek reinforcements this summer, signing at least a couple of players of those who go down to the perimeter mud at a good price.
From Jabari Parker we all know that lateral displacement when it comes to getting in the way has never been his strong suit, and more since his two serious ACL injuries. Fast players with a good start quickly become their hell and a vein for the rival to drill through. Jabari, in this, requires two things: first, the most non-negotiable, tenacity and effort on his part (if not, the rest is useless), and then a technician who knows how to detect the mismatch and looking for the ideal match from among the possible ones, as well as influencing the aid system and brand changes.
Jabari in attack can be a 3, a 4, even a 5 in certain sections of pronounced small ball. In defense it must be exactly the same. And we already saw, as a recent example, as with Julius Randle in the closing season game, with hardly any need to point, he was able to read in a couple of sets what the action required (not biting into the threat in the first action; planting his feet well on the ground in the second action and being handicap enough to move him away from the hoop and condition your shot). Yes, Randle, the MIP of the season.
Hungry and on time
The relationship between Parker and the Celtics could begin to deepen long before 2021, because as soon as the latter deposited his name in the 2014 chalice, Danny Ainge contacted him. Only that GM had the 6th pick (Marcus Smart) in his possession, while Jabari, cover of Sports Ilustrated 2012 and then baptized as ‘best high school player since LeBron James’, flew four ballots before heading to the Bucks.
Not only did that young Parker have contact with the (former) boss, but he also met someone else shortly after. The player, today, most loved and untouchable; face, shield, present and future of the franchise. The one with the 50 points in the playoffs. “I went back to high school and had the opportunity to work with him (Jayson Tatum, of course) and with Jeff Capel, his shooting coach. And with Danny Ainge I have always had a close relationship, especially since when he was going to be drafted. I have a very good relationship with the Celtic family. They do things the right way in terms of teamwork, culture of effort and preparation, and hopefully I will be able to integrate and catch those guys in terms of their work ethic and good habits ”, were some of the first statements of the forward after confirming his signing for two years with the Celtics, although with a salary, role and claims that are very different (and distant) from those that would have been six years ago had it been his cap that was fitted.
But as of June 2021 we can affirm two things that increase the light that waters us. Jabari Parker adds already close to four years without a serious lower body injury, and he appears to be on track to reach his best physical form since his promising deflowering in Wisconsin. The second is that he is only 26 years old, and like his promotion brothers (Wiggins, Randle, Embiid, Jokic…) he still has, what could be, several of his best years of basketball ahead of him.
“What keeps me fighting is my faith in God and simply my desire not to give up”Parker said shortly after signing with the Celtics. “I remember my father, when I was 6 years old, saw me giving up on a play, so he grabbed me, took me aside and told me never to give up. It’s something that stuck with me; I will never give up and I will always give myself a chance ”.
I do not doubt the Faith or the paternal inspiration of Jabari, but there may be a point on the horizon, the free agency of 2022 in particular, and the knowledge that when it arrives he will have won, in his eight years as a professional, around at 57.5 million, while Draft colleagues such as Randle, LaVine, Jokic, Embiid or Wiggins will have pocketed 78, 85, 116, 131 and 136 respectively in that same time … it serves him, along with his Faith and resilience, of extra push to give this upcoming course his best.
And it may also be that the green carpet in the Garden is the ideal surface, like dirt for Rafa or grass for Roger, for that to be the case. So that part of the old dream comes true.
(Cover photo by Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
–
