The Chicago Bulls famously signed Jabari parker this offseason. Defensive issues were expected, but how has he fared thus far on both ends?
Jabari Parker is far from a bad player. His ability to score the basketball at a high-level is a commodity and his guard-like handles are particularly rare for someone of his size. However, the Chicago Bulls signed him knowing potentially significant defensive issues would ensue.
Although it’s only been six games and there’s no telling how he’ll perform for the rest of the season-or if he’ll be healthy enough to do so, Parker has a lot to prove if he wants to be a part of this young core long-term.
Current performance offensively
On paper, Parker’s performance seems to be relatively good thus far if nothing else is considered. In 27.2 minutes per game as a reserve, he’s averaging 16.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists on 46.3 percent shooting from the field and an effective 43.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Looking beyond the surface, however, things are a little less cheery. While he appears to be shooting effectively, he could be performing at a much higher level considering how many shots he’s taking per contest (13.3).
Anyone who has watched a Bulls game this year has seen Parker consistently dribble into a contested pull up jumpshot and misfire more often than not.
He’s been a relatively solid 3-point shooter and rebounder, but his overall offense has been fairly inconsistent as well. With Bobby Portis, Lauri Markkanen and Denzel Valentine all out of the way, Parker essentially runs the bench unit offensively and has free reign to take over.
His overall offensive projection has been solid but not fully up to par with what he’s capable of doing. This is someone who was a 20 point per game scorer as a second option to Giannis Antetokounmpo and is now getting starters minutes to run with a weakened bench unit.
Offensive performance, however, is not the only thing that has been questioned. As aforementioned, everyone expected some degree of offensive success but questioned the defensive ability of the team as a whole.
However, his comments about defense this offseason worried Bulls fans about him specifically the most.
Defensive issues
Although both Parker and Zach Lavine are not on the wing together as initially expected, the defensive liability is still there. Parker hasn’t shown much effort whatsoever on that end of the floor and his comments about defense from the offseason seem to be even more of an issue than expected.
The problem isn’t only with Parker, as the Bulls are 24th in defensive rating and allow opposing teams to shoot an average of 38.3 3-point attempts per contest, but he is consistently giving up on plays, getting targeted by matchups, and allowing smaller players to grab second-chance rebounds over him.
Blake Griffin managed to put up 33 points when the Detroit Pistons visited the Bulls and was guarded by Parker a good portion of the time. Parker was also controversially left in for a defense-only possession in crunch-time.
Ish Smith was able to attack the middle right past the 6’8″ forward for a layup that would ultimately win them the game.
The entirety of the defensive struggles as a whole cannot be placed solely on Parker. However, the offensive production that’s needed to even partially counteract these struggles is a lot greater than what he’s currently producing.
Long-term outlook
Quite frankly, it’s uncertain as to whether or not this current core is going to be the future of the franchise. Markkanen and Lavine should definitely be priorities long-term, but we haven’t seen how the entirety of the young core plays together.
Kris Dunn is a necessary piece defensively and is the team’s primary playmaker but hasn’t played much with both Markkanen and Lavine at the same time.
Wendell carter Jr. has shown a lot of promise on both ends of the floor but still has a lot of room for growth and will need to get more minutes and Bobby Portis may not want to retain a bench role forever.
Parker is going to need to significantly improve defensively or become a sheer offensive force if he wants to remain a Bull. It’s a long season but key pieces are out and will be returning so his window is closing.
The Bulls have a lot of young talent but health and defense are going to continue to be consistent issues and team chemistry is crucial. Assuming this is the type of production we’ll see for the remainder of the season, I can’t say keeping Parker on for another year would be the best option.
As always, I’m hoping he’ll prove me wrong and the team’s issues become less prevalent. However, he’s not the only talented forward in the league and Chicago may need to look to the draft or to the free agent pool to continue to push this rebuild in the right direction.