After Darío Brizuela (Unicaja), Willy Hernangómez (NBA, without a team) and Joel Parra (Joventut), Barça has signed American power forward Jabari Parker, 28, as a theoretical replacement for Nikola Mirotic.
It is a very risky bet, a complete unknown regarding performance, since Parker, who was without a team since January 2022 (his last contract was with the Celtics), has suffered many injuries in the last five years, especially from knee.
That is why Barça, in its statement issued today, emphasizes that the agreement for the incorporation of Parker for one season is subject to passing the medical examination. The contract prepared by the Blaugrana club reserves a clause to terminate the agreement in case he relapses into an injury.
More is known about Jabari Parker's promising start to his career than his recent achievements. The 2.01m power forward, born in Chicago in 1995 and raised at Duke University, made a name for himself when he was selected No. 2 in the NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2014... nine years ago.
In 2018 he signed for the Chicago Bulls and went through various franchises such as the Washington Wizards, the Atlanta Hawks, the Sacramento Kings and finally the Boston Celtics, who fired him on January 7, 2022. Since then, there has been no record of any professional activity of the player .
His career in the NBA has been rather discreet: he has played 310 regular season games in eight years (2014-22), that is, about 39 games per season, far from the 82 games in a regular season. In the playoffs he only has 11 games, seven with the Bucks (2018) and four with the Celtics (2021). His statistical averages, even so, are remarkable: 14.1 points per game and 5.5 rebounds.
In Parker's career, his numerous injuries stand out above all: up to 14 incidents reported by Fox Sports, with rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of the left knee twice in three years (2017-19) -with a loss of a whole year between operations and recovery-, as well as back, shoulder and ankle problems.
This will be his first experience in European basketball.
