The Milwaukee Bucks are an extremely young team that exceeded expectations a year ago by making the playoffs as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. This season they are hoping for improvement thanks to the addition of Greg Monroe but maybe an even bigger reason why is Jabari Parker. Parker is on the mend from a torn ACL he suffered last season and appears to be ready for training camp but the Bucks will be cautious with him, according to ESPN.
All reports out of Parker's camp this offseason have been that he is either right on schedule or maybe even ahead of schedule. That still holds true accoriding to the Bucks but they still want to take it easy with him as they take the long view.
"We're not going to rush him back. This is a bigger picture. For Jabari, he's had a chance to be in the weight room and he's worked extremely hard there, now it's just a matter of time under his belt to get back to playing basketball," said Bucks head coach Jason Kidd.
Parker has received praise from his teammates and coaching staff for the hard work he has put in to get where he is now. ACL injuries usually take close to a year to come back from but sometimes athletes come back in as early as eight months. If Parker plays in training camp and the preseason it will have only been nine months which is an extremely fast recovery. As for how cautious the Bucks will be general manager John Hammond said very.
"If we think he can play 30 minutes, we'll probably play him 15. Wherever he might be, we're always going to be cautious with him," said Hammond.
The Bucks have a very deep, young and talented roster so there is no need to rush the 20 year old back but it is clear he wants to get back on the court as soon as possible. When the Bucks deem Parker is healthy he will likely slot in alongside Monroe as the starting power forward to give the Bucks a scary starting five.
In 25 games as a rookie Parker averaged 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 49 percent from the field. This season he and Monroe hope to make a major difference in how far this young Bucks team can go in the playoffs.
