NBA Trade Deadline 2019: 5 buried veterans who could help a contender

2. Jabari Parker — F, Chicago Bulls

Unlike the last Bull on this list, the question with Parker isn’t whether he’s a bit too outdated for the higher levels of playoff basketball.

Quite the contrary. There’s a world where Parker is the exact type of new age center who plays a guy like Robin Lopez off the court. While nothing about the former Milwaukee Buck says “sneaky good rim protector” (he has just 76 career blocks over five seasons), he could be devastating on offense in such a role.

Given his struggles defending anyone with a pulse, maybe slotting Parker down low in a spot that requires less defensive movement on his part could be an improvement. It certainly can’t get any worse.

The question here is whether any contender would be willing to pay the price to find out. With a $20 million team option for next season, Parker is essentially an expiring contract. Very few playoff teams have that much in expiring money they simply want to get rid of, and if anyone wanted to send back future salary Chicago’s way, the Bulls asking price in terms of draft compensation would only increase.

There’s also the small matter of Parker off the court. He memorably complained about his role in the midst of Milwaukee’sfirst-roundd series against Boston last year, and generally doesn’t seem like the type of team-first guy that would juice a locker room for the stretch run. Or maybe the perception of Parker has distorted a far kinder reality. Who knows.

Either way, it’s pretty clear his days in Chicago are numbered, one way or another.