Jabari Parker Is Suddenly A Celtic And Could Be The Latest Danny Ainge Steal

Daniel Shirey. Getty Images.

I'll be perfectly honest with you. When I saw that Shams tweet I thought it was fake. I thought someone just tagged me in a troll Shams account or something. Jabari Parker? A two year deal? Is that a nonguaranteed second year or what? I have a lot of questions. First and most importantly, are we sure Jabari Parker has anything left. Early in his career? He was legits. He also wasn't that bad in 32 games for the Hawks just last year. He shot 50% in those 32 games putting up 15/6. But then he got traded to the Kings where all players go to die and just like that he looked dead. When you realize this is probably going to be Mo Wagner's spot, I think we can all agree it makes sense to kick the tires. There's more potential upside in someone like Parker than Wagner. Did you know he's only 25? 

I'll just say this, there's a reason the Kings released him. But then again there's also something to be said about a guy getting out of Sacramento and suddenly looking better. I'm not going to tell you this is going to be a signing that does anything to help. I know it doesn't take much to improve the second unit, and for the cost of Moe Wagner I like the idea of taking a few swings. If it doesn't work out, use his salary and flip him in a trade.  That's important too. They just added a decent chunk of salary to potentially move this summer. 

I just like that Ainge isn't sitting on his dick as we enter the playoffs. He made deals at the deadline that improved this team. His adjustments have helped turn this season around. We haven't even had the chance to even see Fournier yet. Now, in the buyout market, he had an opportunity to bring in a guy who might end up being serviceable for basically nothing. It's a win/win situation, I just can't sit here and tell you what Jabari Parker is going to bring. Nobody knows because nobody has seen it this year. He's played 3 games. I like the idea of it, I like what he could bring in theory in terms of frontcourt/wing depth on the second unit, but we have to see it first. There's no downside to taking this "risk" in my opinion. 

What I love most is that Ainge moved in silence. No rumors of being in on Parker, no nothing. There probably should have been, we all know he can't resist adding Duke players. But the silence, that's how I know he's back. He promised us he would learn from his mistakes from the 2018-19 season, and so far he's backed that up. Now we just have to see if it actually helps.