Boston Celtics: “Pass or Pursue” on 3 recently rumored buyout targets
By Mark Nilon
Boston Celtics buyout target No. 2) Jabari Parker
Selected second overall back in the 2014 Draft, Jabari Parker‘s NBA career has seemingly been in free fall since his third season back in 2017.
Due to injuries and unbelievably bad defensive skills, the forward has had a hard time sticking around on a team’s roster.
As a whole, Parker has found himself logging minutes for five different franchises throughout his seven-year tenure in the association and most recently saw action with the Sacramento Kings earlier in this campaign before being waived by in late March.
Still just 26-years-old, the former Duke standout is currently residing on the open market just waiting for the phone to ring with a chance to get another crack at a rotation spot in the league.
According to Buckley, the Boston Celtics could be an ideal spot for him to get such an opportunity:
"His scoring-only approach gave him a razor-thin margin for error at that end, and he never quite dominated that category the way he needed to. He had one season in which he averaged 20.1 points—his only time north of 15—but even in that year, his team fared much better without him. That explains why the 26-year-old is currently looking for work. So, why might Boston be interested? Because this bench needs buckets, and few available players get them as effortlessly as Parker. While his career has unquestionably been a disappointment to date, he still holds career averages of 18.5 points per 36 minutes and a 49.3 field-goal percentage."
Though the idea of bringing on an added scoring punch to the pine is one that should be of great interest to the Cs, is that punch really Jabari Parker?
Sure, as the piece said, the man has produced to the tune of 20.1 points in the past and holds career averages of 14.8 points on 49 percent shooting from the field, but, at this point, what exactly would the team be bringing on with Parker that a guy like, say, recently acquired forward, Luke Kornet, can’t?
The man can’t play defense, he can’t really space the floor, and he has held a negative box plus/ minus in all but two seasons.
Don’t get us wrong, we certainly believe that Jabari Parker should get another shot in the league at some point in the future. However, with the current position the Celtics find themselves in, they shouldn’t be looking to bring on any more question marks.