The Milwaukee Bucks were very close to trading Jabari Parker

The Bucks haven’t had the pleasure of having Jabari Parker for most of his tenure in Milwaukee. His time as a member of the Bucks was almost up at the trade deadline.

The Milwaukee Bucks made a deadline deal to acquire then Suns point guard Eric Bledsoe at the trade deadline earlier this season. That deal probably saved their playoff chances as they sit in the eighth seed right now, but it was the deal that didn’t get done that’s drawing attention.

According to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times,  the Bucks were actually on the verge of trading big man Jabari Parker. Yes, you heard that right, their second pick from the 2014 draft was almost dealt in February. It is unclear who he would have been traded to, but the deal was definitely close.

Woelfel also added that it seems there is a very slim chance Parker actually returns to the Bucks next season after his contract expires at the end of the season. The Bucks can extend him a qualifying offer of $8.85 million, but he is eligible to be a restricted free agent this summer.

The reason he might not be back next season is because he’s looking for a max contract on his next deal, and the Bucks aren’t going to give it to him. According to ESPN.com’s Zach Lowe, the Bucks did offer Parker a contract worth $54 million over three years, but he obviously didn’t accept it.

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Parker is coming off of his second torn ACL in as many years, which makes giving him a max contract extremely difficult for any team. Obviously, the way contracts play out in today’s NBA, he’s going to get a lot of money from someone even with the injury history, but it looks like it’s not coming from Milwaukee.

We shall see how things play out this summer for Parker.