Celtics sign Jabari Parker

Cellar-Door

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I missed that it has a (likely non-guaranteed) year 2. That's not as bad. I still think he's garbage, but maybe lightning strikes and he remembers how to shoot 3s, then you have a cheap option off the bench to play 4 next year when Grant is struggling.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Brad will play him if JP starts playing some defense, so maybe about 30% chance of that.
We are taking a free roll that Jabari has a wake up call realizing he’s on a min-contract and is going to have to work defensively to stick in the league. Personally I’ve never liked the player for what his hype was even out of college as he never had the athleticism to be an elite elite player.....but he’s always know how to score the ball. As others have said, if it works we have a nice cheap rotation guy next year and if not the cost was peanuts.
 

radsoxfan

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Someone had to be purged after this disgusting 5 minutes from the end of the bench in the Lakers game. Personally I wish it was Waters but Wagner is fine too.

I think the rotation is becoming pretty clear and there is room for one more non-terrible wing to help this team out with regular minutes. Will that be Parker? Perhaps not. But the bar is very low him to be helpful, beating out the Semi-Nesmith-Romeo-Grant contingent isn't going to be very difficult. Brad and Danny are realizing the fewer minutes from that foursome, the better.

Kemba
Smart
Tatum
Jaylen
Timelord


Fournier
Thompson
Pritchard
Player X

Williams
Kornet


Carsen
Waters
Tacko
Semi
Nesmith
Romeo


Player X being Jabari Parker isn't too crazy considering who he has to beat out.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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Someone had to be purged after this disgusting 5 minutes from the end of the bench in the Lakers game. Personally I wish it was Waters but Wagner is fine too.

I think the rotation is becoming pretty clear and there is room for one more non-terrible wing to help this team out with regular minutes. Will that be Parker? Perhaps not. But the bar is very low him to be helpful, beating out the Semi-Nesmith-Romeo-Grant contingent isn't going to be very difficult. Brad and Danny are realizing the fewer minutes from that foursome, the better.

Kemba
Smart
Tatum
Jaylen
Timelord


Fournier
Thompson
Pritchard
Player X

Williams
Kornet


Carsen
Waters
Tacko
Semi
Nesmith
Romeo


Player X being Jabari Parker isn't too crazy considering who he has to beat out.
I think you have a much lower opinion of Romeo than Brad does, he's often been the first wing off the bench since he's been back (albeit with Fournier out for much of that time). I think he slots into the second group in the Player X spot, given how they've handled their subs recently.
 

radsoxfan

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I think you have a much lower opinion of Romeo than Brad does, he's often been the first wing off the bench since he's been back (albeit with Fournier out for much of that time). I think he slots into the second group in the Player X spot, given how they've handled their subs recently.

Perhaps that's true, but Romeo getting minutes also might be more about giving him a chance more than anything else. Better to go with the unknown than with known suck.

Romeo might be slightly above Semi and Nesmith but I also dont think it would be a big surprise for Jabari to beat him out. He's been a real live mediocre NBA basketball player pretty recently. A mediocre NBA wing is a big upgrade for the player X spot.

Edit:
I also didn't purposely put Romeo dead last, just in that group as part of the last 6. I hear you if maybe he should be in the fringe group with Grant and Kornet, he probably hasn't had enough time to know one way or another.
 
Last edited:

Smokey Joe

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Mark Bartelstein is Jabari’s agent. I can totally see Ainge doing him a favor and taking on Jabari so he can play some minutes and get a contract for next year. If he does great then Ainge has a viable player for next year. Either Ainge has done Bartelstein a favor or vice versa, depending on how he plays.
 

reggiecleveland

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Someone had to be purged after this disgusting 5 minutes from the end of the bench in the Lakers game. Personally I wish it was Waters but Wagner is fine too.
Of two extremes of terrible play, littl eguy trying to do too much vs big guy scared to do anything, the former wins in my books.

Jabari parker may be what is called a three teamer. After two teams give up on him the light bulb may go off. I know he has had more than 3 teams, but he was decent player getting minutes until Atlanta and Sacramento gave up on him. The decline in minutes has been so drastic i worry there is some physical ailment. But doesn't seem like a Brad type of defender.
 

radsoxfan

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Mark Bartelstein is Jabari’s agent. I can totally see Ainge doing him a favor and taking on Jabari so he can play some minutes and get a contract for next year. If he does great then Ainge has a viable player for next year. Either Ainge has done Bartelstein a favor or vice versa, depending on how he plays.
Bartelstein probably called Ainge immediately after that Wagner/Waters debacle while it was still fresh in Danny's head.

"Do you still mean to tell me you don't think Jabari can help you out??? I'll even give you the 2nd year team option you love"
 

Cellar-Door

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I think people talking about a lightbulb for Jabari are missing the point... his effort may not be great, but the bigger problem is his skill/athleticism profile isn't that good.
The second ACL tear really was the beginning of the end for him, he's not explosive anymore.
He hasn't been able to shoot the 3, so he has to be incredibly efficient in the midrange to make up for it, and he hurts your spacing, and he's not a particularly good passer either. Improved effort might make him more playable on D, but right now, he's basically Grant Williams, but worse on D, worse from 3, and better at mid-post creating his own shot.
I guess they see him as the power-forward Kanter (with closer to average D, but without the rebounds) in that he might be a break glass in case nobody can create a shot emergency points.
 

benhogan

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Has anyone seen what the 2nd year is? option? size?

I really don't see Jabari playing a role, unless he completely shocks to the upside.

Danny is probably making a major deal this summer. Jabari = potential filler + upside option on play

The "potential filler" on a summer deal alone makes Parker worth more than Wagner
 

Cellar-Door

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Has anyone seen what the 2nd year is? option? size?

I really don't see Jabari playing a role, unless he completely shocks to the upside.

Danny is probably making a major deal this summer. Jabari = potential filler + upside option on play

The "potential filler" on a summer deal alone makes Parker worth more than Wagner
I would assume it's a non-guaranteed year at his minimum so around $2.39M or so?
 

radsoxfan

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Improved effort might make him more playable on D, but right now, he's basically Grant Williams, but worse on D, worse from 3, and better at mid-post creating his own shot.
It's pretty difficult to be significantly worse than Grant Williams has been this season, so I'm not sure I buy that. "Grant Williams but worse on D and worse from 3" is basically the 45 year old that likes to post up at the local Y.

I don't expect much from Jabari, but the bar to be semi-useful is EXTREMELY low.
 

Cellar-Door

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It's pretty difficult to be significantly worse than Grant Williams has been this season, so I'm not sure I buy that. "Grant Williams but worse on D and worse from 3" is basically the 45 year old that likes to post up at the local Y.

I don't expect much from Jabari, but the bar to be semi-useful is EXTREMELY low.
Grant is shooting 38% from 3, Jabari's last 3 seasons are 32%, 27% and 0%. Grant has been bad on defense this year, but better than Jabari usually is, and last year Grant was good on D, Jabari has never had a season he wasn't bad on D. Grant had a terrible stretch, but he's been better recently.
Jabari Parker hasn't given any indications the last few years that he can shoot 3s or defend, so if you have expectations of him being anything other than DEEP bench you're going to be disappointed. I'd assume he's behind Grant and Semi in the neutral rotation, but may get an occasional matchup based run, he's somewhere between the 11th and 15th man. I assume just positionally he gets more run than Arsen and the 2 way guys, but he'll be fighting for those deep bench minutes with Kornet, Nesmith, etc.
 

radsoxfan

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Grant is shooting 38% from 3, Jabari's last 3 seasons are 32%, 27% and 0%. Grant has been bad on defense this year, but better than Jabari usually is, and last year Grant was good on D, Jabari has never had a season he wasn't bad on D. Grant had a terrible stretch, but he's been better recently.
Jabari Parker hasn't given any indications the last few years that he can shoot 3s or defend, so if you have expectations of him being anything other than DEEP bench you're going to be disappointed. I'd assume he's behind Grant and Semi in the neutral rotation, but may get an occasional matchup based run, he's somewhere between the 11th and 15th man. I assume just positionally he gets more run than Arsen and the 2 way guys, but he'll be fighting for those deep bench minutes with Kornet, Nesmith, etc.
I don't disagree Grant is better from 3 and better on D than Jabari. The problem for Grant in this comparison is that there are other parts of basketball.

Jabari being worse in those 2 categories doesn't mean he is "Grant Williams but worse in those 2 categories". It just means he is worse in those 2 categories.

I expect Jabari to get the Romeo treatment. He hasn't proven he sucks yet, so he'll get some run and they'll see what happens.
 

BringBackMo

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I don't disagree Grant is better from 3 and better on D than Jabari. The problem for Grant in this comparison is that there are other parts of basketball.

Jabari being worse in those 2 categories doesn't mean he is "Grant Williams but worse in those 2 categories". It just means he is worse in those 2 categories.

I expect Jabari to get the Romeo treatment. He hasn't proven he sucks yet, so he'll get some run and they'll see what happens.
Judging by your recent posts, you are REALLY down on Romeo. I suspect that the organization has a dramatically different read on his potential.

Where you see a player who will continue to be grudgingly given occasional minutes merely because he hasn’t yet proved that he sucks, my sense is that the Celtics see a young player with lots of talent and, so far, little injury luck.

Perhaps you’ll be proved right in your assessment, but I wouldn’t be the least bit shocked if Romeo has become an important rotational contributor by this time next year.
 

lexrageorge

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I agree that it's way too early to write off Romeo Langford long term. He still shows flashes of why the Celtics brass are high on his prospects. There is definitely some overreaction to a a couple of bad games on a road trip in Romeo's case.

However, it's unclear how much impact he can have on this year's team. Trying to work him into a rotation at this stage of the season with zero practice time while also giving him a chance to develop his game while the team is jockeying for playoff seeding is going to be an uphill battle. But, yes, Stevens and Ainge think far more highly of him than most of the posts in this thread, which is a very good thing.
 

TripleOT

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I don’t know much about Parker defensively, if he gives more points back than he scores, but since his last big injury, as s journeyman with three teams, he’s scored a bit more than a point every two minutes, with efficiency much higher than any bench Celtic besides PP, despite not having a reliable three point shot.

I think the Celtics should be able to make it through the season with only four centers. Every time I saw Wagner play the Celtics in person, he looked feisty and competitive. With the Celtics, he didn’t look like an NBA player.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Romeo might be slightly above Semi and Nesmith but I also dont think it would be a big surprise for Jabari to beat him out. He's been a real live mediocre NBA basketball player pretty recently. A mediocre NBA wing is a big upgrade for the player X spot.
It's pretty difficult to be significantly worse than Grant Williams has been this season, so I'm not sure I buy that. "Grant Williams but worse on D and worse from 3" is basically the 45 year old that likes to post up at the local Y.

I don't expect much from Jabari, but the bar to be semi-useful is EXTREMELY low.
There is no way Parker plays before Romeo. Romeo has a job to do and that's come in and play defense. He does that super well, especially at smaller quicker guards that other Cs have problems guarding. He may be the Cs best on-ball defender. And the amazing thing that Romeo was drafted for his offeneive potential.

I know you hate GW but as noted on the broadcast Thrs night, he leads the Cs in +/- in April by a lot. SSS but clearly he must be doing something write.

Parker is a signing for next year. They are going to teach him the system; see how he practices / work-out, get him some run in garbage time, and evaluate. If they have to rely on JP for offense at any stretch this year, that probably means they got another injury bug and things aren't looking promising.
 

benhogan

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There is no way Parker plays before Romeo. Romeo has a job to do and that's come in and play defense. He does that super well, especially at smaller quicker guards that other Cs have problems guarding. He may be the Cs best on-ball defender. And the amazing thing that Romeo was drafted for his offeneive potential.

I know you hate GW but as noted on the broadcast Thrs night, he leads the Cs in +/- in April by a lot. SSS but clearly he must be doing something write.

Parker is a signing for next year. They are going to teach him the system; see how he practices / work-out, get him some run in garbage time, and evaluate. If they have to rely on JP for offense at any stretch this year, that probably means they got another injury bug and things aren't looking promising.
Agreed.

The recent Grant Hate is a little overdone. Short offseason, came in overweight, working it off. Brad obviously sees something he likes. People are way too eager to give up on our late firsts, it's become fashionable to slam Danny's draft picks. As we've seen with Rob Williams, it may take a few seasons before they fully get up to speed in limited minutes.

Parker update
https://www.celticsblog.com/2021/4/16/22388722/what-jabari-parker-might-bring-to-the-boston-celtics
 

lovegtm

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Agreed.

The recent Grant Hate is a little overdone. Short offseason, came in overweight, working it off. Brad obviously sees something he likes. People are way too eager to give up on our late firsts, it's become fashionable to slam Danny's draft picks. As we've seen with Rob Williams, it may take a few seasons before they fully get up to speed in limited minutes.

Parker update
https://www.celticsblog.com/2021/4/16/22388722/what-jabari-parker-might-bring-to-the-boston-celtics
radsoxfan just likes dem POINTZ
 

Cesar Crespo

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Agreed.

The recent Grant Hate is a little overdone. Short offseason, came in overweight, working it off. Brad obviously sees something he likes. People are way too eager to give up on our late firsts, it's become fashionable to slam Danny's draft picks. As we've seen with Rob Williams, it may take a few seasons before they fully get up to speed in limited minutes.

Parker update
https://www.celticsblog.com/2021/4/16/22388722/what-jabari-parker-might-bring-to-the-boston-celtics
Working it off, lol ok. He is not, and I can find a post in the last week of YOU calling him fat.

Amazing how narratives change on players when they perform well for a stretch of games.
 

lovegtm

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Working it off, lol ok. He is not, and I can find a post in the last week of YOU calling him fat.

Amazing how narratives change on players when they perform well for a stretch of games.
We can move this to the Grant thread, but I think it's fair to say that:
- he's playing a lot better of late, particularly on D
- he still really needs to drop weight to hit his potential
 

Cesar Crespo

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We can move this to the Grant thread, but I think it's fair to say that:
- he's playing a lot better of late, particularly on D
- he still really needs to drop weight to hit his potential
Maybe, or he learned how to play with the weight. Obviously, long term, you'd want the weight off.
 

radsoxfan

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LOL. Grant sucks for a lot more reasons than not scoring points. He’s the worst non-garbage time Celtic this season by just about every advanced metric. The lack of his ability to score any points is just one easily illustrated problem, among many.

Romeo long term and Romeo this season are 2 different things. I’m not particularly high on him long term either, but I’m primarily talking about this season. Romeo can defend some, but overall this season has been very bad. Not particularly debatable.

I expect Romeo to still get some more chances but for this season, Parker only has to beat out the 2021 version of Semi, Romeo, Nesmith +/- Grant to get some playing time down the stretch. A lot of not very good NBA guys could do that, Parker might be one of them.
 

benhogan

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Working it off, lol ok. He is not, and I can find a post in the last week of YOU calling him fat.

Amazing how narratives change on players when they perform well for a stretch of games.
for sure. Grant was FAT from day 1 this season. So was Marcus. Didn't love it, both need to continue to work it off
 

Cesar Crespo

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LOL. Grant sucks for a lot more reasons than not scoring points. He’s the worst non-garbage time Celtic this season by just about every advanced metric. The lack of his ability to score any points is just one easily illustrated problem, among many.
Someone will always be the worst non garbage time Celtic. I hate Grant Williams but there is no reason to think Jabari is any better than him.

Jabari Parker reminds me of the Greg Monroe experience.
 

Cesar Crespo

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for sure. Grant was FAT from day 1 this season. So was Marcus. Didn't love it, both need to continue to work it off
I thought you were implying Grant actually worked any off. Yes, he needs to. He has not though. Maybe he is working on it and failing badly, I dunno.
 

Don Buddin's GS

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Jabari Parker is one of the great “WTF happened to that guy?” players of all time. I watched a shitload of Chicago Simeon HS games online because my alma mater Dayton had signed his teammate Kendall Pollard. Simeon won 4 consecutive Illinois HS championships while he was there. He had a good year playing for K at Duke, went #2 in the NBA draft and then the ACL issues started. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Jabari Parker is one of the great “WTF happened to that guy?” players of all time. I watched a shitload of Chicago Simeon HS games online because my alma mater had signed his teammate Kendall Pollard. Simeon won 4 consecutive Illinois HS championships while he was there. He had a good year playing for K at Duke, went #2 in the NBA draft and then the ACL issues started. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
How is it a big WTF when you answered your own question?
 

benhogan

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I thought you were implying Grant actually worked any off. Yes, he needs to. He has not though. Maybe he is working on it and failing badly, I dunno.
Grant has had a bad season on a whole, no denying that. He's out of the quicksand, he was mired in the first few months. Still committing dumb fouls, but it appears he's moving a hair better. If that's changing the narrative so be it, he's clearly adding some value now.

BUT the dude has to cut his Chipotle platinum card to pieces
 

Cesar Crespo

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Grant has had a bad season on a whole, no denying that. He's out of the quicksand, he was mired in the first few months. Still committing dumb fouls, but it appears he's moving a hair better. If that's changing the narrative so be it, he's clearly adding some value now.

BUT the dude has to cut his Chipotle platinum card to pieces
I don't know if the dumb fouls will ever end. I think that's a product of being slow. Although I guess some people think he'll get much quicker with some weight loss.
 

TripleOT

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Maybe the Brad Stevens effect will work with Parker, as it did previously with another number 2 pick who was thought as a failure, new Celtics assistant Evan Turner.
 

PedroKsBambino

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I've made the comment in other places that sometimes we commit the fallacy Billy Beane made famous in Moneyball---focusing on what guys can't do rather than what they can. The thing with Parker is he has shown he can score the ball in the recent past; that's something we can't say about anyone other than Fournier off the bench. I hear the defensive questions, which are very real and may prove to be a deal-breaker. Ditto the questions about the knee.

But the idea that they are better off with the established-no-role guys at the end of the bench going back to the offseason was wrong then and remains wrong now. Better to take a shot on a guy who might fit into a role than guys we know are only 'break glass' types. People think the question is "will Jabari be a star" and the answer there is almost surely no. But that isn't the question---we're trying to figure out if he can provide steady minutes and/or play a role that they'll need some nights (most likely scoring punch off bench when one of the big three is out)....and that's worth figuring out because we know Wagner, Kornet, Tacko, Waters, Grant, Semi can't do that.
 

BaseballJones

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Not just you but ugh...I cannot stand the phrase "score the ball". It's just "score". I have no idea where that phrase came from but it's just the worst. Anyway, grumpy old man is me.

Back to Jabari Parker. And to THAT, I say... who cares? If he's bad he just replaces another bad player at the far end of the bench or gets replaced in turn. If he's good....BONUS!
 

RetractableRoof

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This year, the only thing I would expect out of Parker is 5-6 minutes at the end of the game when up by 20. He's the insurance that JB et al don't have to return to the court cold and risk injury to prevent taking a senseless loss. The fact that he can (or could) score means that they can at least tread water and the speed with which the lead dissipates is reduced.

Any other performance (or appearance) by him is gravy - or an oh crap someone got hurt can we find lightning in a bottle for a game or two. And even then, everyone that wasn't on the floor during the Lakers debacle is ahead of him. Who knows if Ainge has any real expectations going into next year.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I've made the comment in other places that sometimes we commit the fallacy Billy Beane made famous in Moneyball---focusing on what guys can't do rather than what they can. The thing with Parker is he has shown he can score the ball in the recent past; that's something we can't say about anyone other than Fournier off the bench. I hear the defensive questions, which are very real and may prove to be a deal-breaker. Ditto the questions about the knee.

But the idea that they are better off with the established-no-role guys at the end of the bench going back to the offseason was wrong then and remains wrong now. Better to take a shot on a guy who might fit into a role than guys we know are only 'break glass' types. People think the question is "will Jabari be a star" and the answer there is almost surely no. But that isn't the question---we're trying to figure out if he can provide steady minutes and/or play a role that they'll need some nights (most likely scoring punch off bench when one of the big three is out)....and that's worth figuring out because we know Wagner, Kornet, Tacko, Waters, Grant, Semi can't do that.
The thing about Parker’s defense was always versus starting 4’s where he was a 20, 21 and 22 year old still figuring out what he’s supposed to be doing. Much of this was a lack of physical skills agaiant the elite scorers in the league and some from his attitude of being a scorer and his mindset that scorers get paid.

His role now will be far different here in that he can still score (the ball lol) while no longer being exposed by having to defend Durant, Porzingis, LeBron, Randle, Sabonis, Dirk, etc etc back then who overmatched him physically, If Parkers knee is ok and he’s in decent shape (admittedly a big IF) he’s going to surprise the naysayers here. Not sure why he’s being evaluated like he is by some or expected to not have an opportunity outside of garbage time minutes.

His will be a similar role on the floor as Carmelo in Portland when he replaced the minutes of Skal Labissiere and Nasir Little after Collins went down with an injury two years ago (except he’ll be doing it off the bench). Replace players who can’t score with one who can while maybe not losing as much on the other end (since the player he’s replacing stinks).
 

DGreenwood

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How much salary counts for luxury tax purposes this year? is it just one month of the minimum (which is what he'll actually earn) or is it the full annualized minimum (like it would if they had traded for him)?

I've spent way too much time worrying about the luxury tax this year because I want them to push that repeater tax as far down the road as possible. I should just trust that Zarren is really good at this and stop worrying about it.
 

nighthob

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Jabari Parker is one of the great “WTF happened to that guy?” players of all time. I watched a shitload of Chicago Simeon HS games online because my alma mater Dayton had signed his teammate Kendall Pollard. Simeon won 4 consecutive Illinois HS championships while he was there. He had a good year playing for K at Duke, went #2 in the NBA draft and then the ACL issues started. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
Unfortunately for Jabari the knee injuries started in high school and he was never serious about the rehab until it was too late.
 

DourDoerr

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I like this signing. If a ring is the goal, the bench needs some vets. They still need to get a vet shooter or two, but Parker can give them solid minutes — with the caveat that he’ll commit to CBS’s system’s demands. It’s been apparent they need some length and Parker can give them some of that. His measurables at the combine were 6' 9" in shoes, 6' 11.75" wingspan, 8' 11.5" standing reach. The money isn’t a killer, in any case.