A wandering soul in the NBA, Jabari Parker is making an impact on the Euroleague playoffs. Can he parlay this run with FC Barcelona into something more? Emmet Ryan says he’ll need to prove his worth in both road games against Olympiacos
Getting hot hasn’t been an issue for Jabari Parker since his move across the Atlantic. Doing so consistently has been. With his eyes surely on one more deal back in the NBA, the Euroleague playoffs present a chance for him to show suitors what he can do. He saved the series for FC Barcelona on Friday night. Now, he’s got to show that he can find another level in the two games at Olympiacos.
He was always a guy
There are plenty of NBA draft busts who amount to absolutely nothing. You can’t really say that about Jabari Parker. He’s a bust, no debate there, but amounting to nothing is simply inaccurate. Parker wasn’t terribly efficient in his time with the Bucks but he found ways to contribute. His presence was clear and not in an obviously detrimental way.
The injury bug biting him early on certainly didn’t help. Once Parker left Milwaukee, he was a journeyman but one that always seemed to have potential to be more than a warm body. Oddly, as trust in him dropped amongst coaches his efficiency improved. Parker found a way to do more with less but the sample size got to a point of irrelevancy.
More than likely, Parker could have found a NBA job this season. Perhaps not by opening day but, as the season wore on, he would almost certainly have nabbed a roster spot somewhere. In terms of compensation, it would probably have been worth close to what he’s getting paid with FC Barcelona. Yet he chose to come to Euroleague, to show that he can be a guy that contributes.
Hot and cold
There have been great nights from Jabari Parker in a FC Barcelona jersey. The most obvious was this past Friday over Olympiacos. He had 24 points on 10 of 16 shooting and 12 rebounds. Granted, he turned the ball over 4 times as well but the net result was exceedingly positive. That was his best night of the Euroleague campaign to date but there were also strong outings against Baskonia, Zalgiris, LDLC Asvel, Crvena Zvezda, and Panathinaikos.
What has been lacking is such nights on the road from Parker. Save for his strong outing at FC Bayern, he really hasn’t found a way to be a difference maker when it matters outside of the Palau Blaugrana.
This has made Parker quite frustrating to watch. The issue has not been workrate. That has been there. It’s as much been one of Parker working how what he can be and what he needs to be.
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Making time his friend
At 29, Parker is hardly an old man. Still, he knows that once he turns 30 that he won’t find it as easy to walk back onto a NBA roster. This sojourn in Euroleague has been one of finding his best game as a baller.
With FC Barcelona, Parker was certain of the one thing he couldn’t guarantee in the NBA: minutes. Barring a Kemba Walker grade flameout in Europe, a player of Parker’s level was always going to get the time on the court to change his game. He has been able to experience a different flavour of physicality to that of the NBA. Calling either league soft is foolish, they each hit hard but in rather different ways.
Taking his lumps in Europe has been good for Parker. To reap the benefits, he needs to step up at the business end of the campaign. This is where the series with Olympiacos comes into focus. Parker was fine in Game 1 when he needed to be very good. In Game 2, he was bordering on great. More importantly, he was in command. There was a control of his fate that Parker hasn’t been able to enjoy for quite some time.
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Embracing opportunity
FC Barcelona are still underdogs in the eyes of canny observers. Despite a fourth placed finish in the regular season, this has been viewed as a rebuilding year in Euroleague for the Blaugrana. Olympiacos stole home court with that Game 1 win. That they were dominated by Parker the next night doesn’t change the dynamic of the series all that much. It moved Barcelona from being doomed to just about staying in the fight.
That’s why Jabari Parker must, in one of these next two games, deliver his first real gem of a road performance this season. There is talent elsewhere, everyone is doing it for Ricky after all, but a self-aware and motivated Parker is a difference maker in this series.
If Jabari Parker makes himself unstoppable then there’s very little the Reds can do to counter him. They’ll be forced into his game, where Parker is the author of his own destiny. Few expect to see that from Parker right now but the man himself must find it within him for FC Barcelona to stay in the hunt.
Creating a future
Playing in Euroleague with FC Barcelona may, on paper, be just a route back to the NBA for Parker but it’s more than that. There is an opportunity here for him to broaden his potential market in the short to medium term. The quality of contracts available both in Europe and, now, through the B-League in Japan has changed the conversation somewhat.
The NBA will always be the top priority for a player like Parker but establishing himself in Europe aids him in that respect too. The more suitors he has offering comfortable and relevant situations to him outside the NBA, the more selective he can be about what he does back in the league.
Right now, Parker has little to no negotiating power with NBA teams. There’s no leverage there. That could change substantially through this series and the rest of the business end of the season. Creating that leverage begins in Piraeus against Olympiacos on Tuesday night.
