Bucks rescind qualifying offer; Jabari Parker joins Chicago Bulls
Jabari Parker's time with the Milwaukee Bucks came to an end on Saturday.
The restricted free agent signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Chicago Bulls after negotiating with the Bucks on an agreement for the team to rescind their qualifying offer, thus making him an unrestricted free agent.
“Jabari and I felt it was in the best interest of both he and the team to rescind our qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent,” general manager Jon Horst said in a statement. “We appreciate everything Jabari has brought to our team and our community over the last four years and we wish him well.”
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As a restricted free agent, the Bucks had the ability to match any offer that came Parker's way. However, with their tight salary cap situation, the Bucks would be hard-pressed to match Chicago's offer of $20 million per year.
While exploring all the possible options including sign-and-trades, Milwaukee did not rescind their qualifying offer — a one-year, $4.3 million slotted deal extended before free agency — by Friday's deadline.
But it ultimately became clear the Bulls were going to sign Parker to an offer sheet that the Bucks had no plan to match. Milwaukee agreed to work with Parker and his agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports & Entertainment to help Parker get the kind of deal he was looking for with the Bulls.
The end result was Parker got his deal, which includes a team option on the second year. This type of deal could not have been done if the Bucks had maintained their qualifying offer since offer sheets have to be for at least two years and those two years cannot include options.
Instead of a non-guaranteed second season, Parker instead got a team option, which he preferred. This situation allows Parker and the Bulls to potentially work on a long-term extension if things work out next season as opposed to a non-guaranteed deal where the Bulls could only choose to keep or waive him.
There was no direct negative consequence for the Bucks in rescinding the qualifying offer Saturday morning. The Bulls could have offered Parker very similar years and dollar figures regardless. But it did cut through some of the red tape and allowed Parker to get a deal with terms slightly more preferable to him done in less time than it may have taken otherwise.
The resolution to the situation was clear and the Bucks, which have worked closely with Parker and Bartelstein throughout this process, saw no value in further complicating things.
“Jabari and I express our sincere gratitude to Jon Horst and Bucks owners Marc Lasry, Wes Edens and Jamie Dinan for working side-by-side with us throughout the free agency period,” Bartelstein said in a statement.
“From the moment the Bucks drafted Jabari with the No. 2 pick in the 2014 draft, they have gone out of their way to treat Jabari as a member of the Bucks family, and this is another perfect example of doing exactly that, and we’re very appreciative.”
Parker ends his tenure with the Bucks having played just 183 games. His time in Milwaukee was marred by a twice-torn left anterior cruciate ligament, which kept him from making the kind of impact that was expected when he joined the team to much acclaim in 2014.
He averaged 15.3 points 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 49.0% from the field and 35.2% from the three-point line.