Sir Charles in Charge
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Milwaukee Bucks: Keep Malcolm Brogdon, trade Jabari Parker

By Jonathan Macri

MILWAUKEE, WI - APRIL 22: Head Coach Jason Kidd of the Milwaukee Bucks walks the sidelines during the first half against the Toronto Raptors of Game Four of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2017 NBA Playoffs at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on April 22, 2017 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using the photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WI - APRIL 22: Head Coach Jason Kidd of the Milwaukee Bucks walks the sidelines during the first half against the Toronto Raptors of Game Four of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2017 NBA Playoffs at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on April 22, 2017 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using the photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images) /
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PHOENIX, AZ – MARCH 03: Eric Bledsoe #2 of the Phoenix Suns reacts after scoring against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of the NBA game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on March 3, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Thunder 118-111. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ – MARCH 03: Eric Bledsoe #2 of the Phoenix Suns reacts after scoring against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of the NBA game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on March 3, 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Thunder 118-111. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Acquiring Bledsoe also leaves them worse off for the future

As a player who will be entering his tenth season in 2019-20, Bledsoe will be in a position to throw Milwaukee even deeper into salary cap hell if they’re forced to sign him to the max.

When discussing the Bucks’ future cap situation, and why it figures to get worse before it gets better, the elephant in the room is Jabari Parker’s looming extension.

There are three logical ways this plays out:

  • Jabari comes back in early February and looks awesome, and gets to demand a max contract.
  • He comes back and looks “meh,” which will be good enough for a franchise like the Bulls, Kings, Pacers or Hawks to thrown a max offer sheet his way.
  • He comes back and looks terrible, and signs a one year qualifying offer to rehabilitate his value, meaning he’ll then be able to enter unrestricted free agency in 2019.

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Even in the first scenario, which is unquestionably the best case for the Bucks, Milwaukee remains capped out for the foreseeable future with a player who, unlike Brogdon, they can’t be sure is a natural fit with their All-World golden ticket.

Last year, of the 11 players Antetokounmpo played at least 300 minutes with, he had the worst net rating sharing the court with Parker. The pair was outscored by 1.7 points per 100 possessions over a healthy sample size of over 1200 minutes, according to NBA.com.

There’s a decent amount of noise in that number, and Milwaukee has succeeded with Parker and Antetokounmpo on the court in certain configurations.

With Brogdon as the point guard last year, the trio had a net rating of +1.6 in 423 minutes. That number jumped to +11.9 when Greg Monroe was added to the mix, albeit in a relatively tiny sample size of 137 minutes.

Parker also shared the court with Khris Middleton – another core piece for the Bucks – for a grant total of only six minutes last year. Once Parker’s back, Milwaukee could experiment with lineups featuring him and Antetokounmpo as the only bigs alongside both Middleton and Snell.

The other option is to play Middleton at the two, which the Bucks have been loath to do, giving him less than 2 percent of his minutes at shooting guard over the last three seasons according to BasketballReference.com.

Any way you cut it, Parker is a bit of an odd fit on a team lead by Giannis, and trading him shouldn’t be out of the question.

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