After landing free agent big man Greg Monroe over the summer to bolster a preposterously exciting young core, the Milwaukee Bucks have been generating a ton of buzz in NBA circles lately. But the team might be pumping the brakes on their own hype train before the season even begins.
In an interview with Michael Lee of the Washington Post that was published on Friday, Bucks general manager John Hammond revealed that the team plans to be “very conservative” with young forward Jabari Parker and his minutes next season.
“If we think he’s capable of playing 20, we’ll maybe play him 10 minutes,” said Hammond. “If we think he can play a back-to-back, we’ll wait on the back-to-back. Whatever it is, we’re going to be very cautious as he moves forward because of the magnitude of who he can be and who we hope he can be for our organization.”
Parker, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 Draft, suffered a torn ACL in his left knee last December in a game against the Phoenix Suns. The recovery period usually ranges anywhere from nine months to a year, which would put the Duke product’s potential return right around the start of the 2015-16 season. However, an ACL tear is generally accepted as the most catastrophic injury an NBA player can suffer, and recovery varies on a case-by-case basis. We’ve seen this in recent years with players like Derrick Rose, Ricky Rubio, Rajon Rondo, and Danilo Gallinari, all of whom took longer beyond their initial timetables to work their way back into playing shape.
The good news is that Parker’s game doesn’t rely too heavily on athleticism or lateral quickness. But it’s understandable that Milwaukee is handling their prized 20-year-old with kid gloves. Parker looks like a cornerstone for the Bucks franchise, maybe for the next decade plus. Not exercising due caution (or even due overcaution) with his return from a major knee injury could prove calamitous in the long-term.
Nevertheless, it’s disappointing news for Bucks fans, who had reason to be optimistic that the team might advance to at least the conference semi-finals next season for the first time since 2001.
The Bucks still have more than enough talent to compensate for Parker’s limitations though. But Coach Jason Kidd may have to get wildly creative with his lineups. Gone is sweet-shooting combo forward Ersan Ilyasova, and spacing concerns were already abounding even prior to the Parker news. We may see some super-small lineups with Khris Middleton at the 4 and Greivis Vasquez and Michael Carter-Williams seeing the court together in two-guard sets. We could also see Kidd go mammoth and play Monroe extended minutes at the 4 (something he did for almost his entire Pistons tenure) next to shot-blocking big John Henson or recently acquired Miles Plumlee. Not to forget that the Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo, is a human cheat code that can play anywhere on the floor.
Rest assured, Milwaukee is blessed with a ton of length and versatility on their roster. Hopefully, that means they can live up to their massive ceiling next season without having to rush or overexert Jabari Parker.
H/T theScore
