Jabari Parker signed with the Chicago Bulls for a two-year $40 million deal. This addition will definitely work and can possibly make the Bulls as high as a three seed in the East.
Many Chicago Bulls fans and players are very excited. Zach LaVine mentioned Jabari Parker on Twitter to welcome him back home. The news certainly shook the League.
Jabari was born and raised in Chicago and played high school basketball at Simeon, the same high school Derrick Rose attended. Parker, just like Rose, will play for his home team where he will wear the number 2.
Parker is set to return this season coming off a knee injury that kept him out 51 games with the Milwaukee Bucks. All Bulls fans hope Jabari can bring Chicago to the Playoffs and that no injuries come his way. Bulls fans are happy to hear the news considering how terrible the Bulls record was last year.
Lots of Bull’s analysts are skeptical about Jabari’s fit with Fred Hoiberg’s system. The team is already oversaturated with Power Forward.
With Jabari under 25 years old, the Bulls bring in another young talented player that has great potential that Bulls can build around.
However, the Bulls only offered him a two year deal with the second year being a team option. This means the Bulls are hesitant to commit on Jabari being the face of the franchise either because of his previous injuries or their wonders of how the team chemistry will flow.
Keep in mind, the Bulls already decided that Lauri Markannen is the face of the franchise when they traded Jimmy Butler for him last year.
Also, the Bulls drafted Wendell Carter Jr. with the 7th pick. Obviously, he will be a crucial part of the team’s rebuild as well.
Parker is clearly the best player on the roster but will Jabari and Lauri mesh well?
Zach Lavine, signing a major deal 4 years $78 million a couple of weeks ago, an iso guard can make the rotation extremely tricky.
This addition will definitely work and can possibly make the Bulls as high as a three seed in the East. Jabari is an iso power forward that likes the ball in the high post and loves to go one on one. Lauri is a natural power forward but can shoot lights-out. He was the fastest player to make 100 three-point shots in NBA history.
Lauri didn’t get many opportunities in the post last season and this season he probably won’t get many either. However, his shooting ability helps him spread the floor and he can still average close to 20 points-per-game. Especially, considering last year half of his shots were three-pointers.
LaVine is an iso guard who requires the ball a lot as well and wants scoring opportunities too. Hoiberg, an offensive minded coach, can create a lot of scoring opportunities for everyone so there shouldn’t be any problems on the offensive side. That leaves the defense. Lauri, Lavine, and Jabari aren’t great defenders and this creates a huge problem.
Next: Would an 8th seed be good for the Chicago Bulls?
The Bulls might need to trade offense for defense for some lineups and they may not all be able to be on the floor at one time, but I’m sure Hoiberg and his defensive staff will figure this out someway.
Nonetheless, the Bulls are going to be an exciting team to watch this season.