Revisionist History: What would we change about this NBA season?

The 2014-15 NBA season has been fantastic. Steph Curry and the Warriors are playing at an unbelievable level, the Atlanta Hawks have soared to the top of the Eastern Conference, Anthony Davis is somehow exceeding expectations, Russell Westbrook had a stretch of games unlike anything the league has ever seen, etc., etc. But still, there are some things we wish would have played out differently. So today we did some revisionist history.

Revisionist History: What if Jabari Parker never tears his ACL?

By Chris Manning (@cwmwrites)

The Milwaukee Bucks are somehow holding on. Despite trading arguably their best player (Brandon Knight) at the trade deadline and losing a formerly elite rim protector (Larry Sanders) to an abrupt, but understandable, retirement, the Bucks have held onto the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. In doing so, the Bucks have put themselves ahead of teams with higher payrolls and bigger star power while also getting core players like Khris Middleton and Giannis Anteokounmpo some playoff experience.

But the young Bucks are missing a certain No. 2 overall pick, the player drafted to be the face of the franchise. That player is Jabari Parker, who went down with an ACL tear just 25 games into his rookie year.

It’s not really clear exactly how much better Parker would have made the Bucks – he was struggling on defense and averaging just 12.3 points while shooting 25 percent from three at the time of his injury – but he was undoubtedly a player that would have benefited as much as Middleton and Giannis, if not more, from making the playoffs. This doesn’t even account for the other 67 games Parker missed in his first NBA season.

Just imagine Parker and the Bucks taking on the the Chicago Bulls in the first round as currently slotted. Not only would Parker play in the playoffs as a rookie, he’d have to do so in his hometown and help his team score against one of the NBA’s premier defensive minds in a seven game series. And without Knight handling the ball, perhaps it would have meant Parker would have been granted more offensive freedom and officially announced himself as a future star.

This is especially true now that Michael Carter-Williams is running the point for Milwaukee. With Knight, Parker was deferring on offense at least to an extent. Middleton’s emergence as a deadeye shooter lessened Parker’s role too. Playing alongside MCW would have meant a bigger role as for Parker, giving him a chance to play as a No. 1 option in a similar fashion to Andrew Wiggins in Minnesota, except he’d have more freedom to take 3-pointers and better overall talent around him. For instance, a MCW, Giannis, Middleton, Parker and Zaza Pachulia lineup would be fascinating to watch.

This could have been Parker’s rookie moment and a perhaps a moment we’d reflect on as he ascended to stardom. But now he’ll be watching in a suit as the Bucks try to hold on.

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