Quote:
Originally Posted by Groundhog
What would Parker's trade value be right now, anyway? I would think other teams would have better packages on offer to get DeAndre. I think the Bucks would need to package him with another enticing piece to land anything significant.
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I do think he is a solid NBA player (unless he lost a lot of athleticism with this surgery), but I just don't see him having the trade value he should until he comes back and plays to remind people how good he is on offense. Especially if the 3-pt shooting from last year is real, he really is a very efficient guy who can be an offensive focal point and teams will pay for that. Bad on D, sure, but this isn't Jahlil Okafor (and a less aggressive defensive scheme should help hide him more.)
But the flip side is who's available? Kemba doesn't fit, I mention DeAndre because he was reportedly on the block, but with Lou Williams catching fire & the Clippers in the 8th seed I don't know if they still want to trade them. Memphis doesn't appear interested in trading Marc Gasol even though they probably should. Is Rodney Hood an upgrade? You want the Sacramento or Orlando veterans? I still like Julius Randle & have no clue what the Lakers are doing, so maybe you could get them to do Randle + Larry Nance Jr., but then again maybe they wouldn't want to do that because Parker's cap hold would work against their plan to sign 2 big name free agents. Would another non-playoff team have a player you want? Maybe Brooklyn would do it for RHJ + something, but none of these moves seem like they move the needle to the point Milwaukee has a good shot at making even the NBA Finals. And Giannis has 3 more years left and seems to like Milwaukee, so I wouldn't start mortgaging the future and pushing chips in out of some fear that future Giannis might not re-sign like New Orleans has done to saddle Anthony Davis with possibly the weakest bench in the NBA. Maybe Chicago would be interested in bringing Parker home & you could trade like Parker + Teletovic for Mirotic + Jerian Grant with the Bulls excess PG's, but I'm not sure Mirotic's 3-pt shooting this year is real, or that Parker might not have continued improving his own 3-pt shooting during his time off - he is still only 22.
Even if you don't think he's a great fit next to Giannis and you end up trading him this offseason it still seems like him developing is the best chance you have of getting even a borderline All-Star to put next to Giannis & Bledsoe, and I'd hope that firing Kidd improves the defense, giving Parker some minutes from guys like Teletovic/Snell/Thon Maker/DeAndre Liggins improves the offense, and you see what you have, especially with the ability to play Giannis that much more when the playoffs roll around.