Bucks' Kidd: Parker 'still a rookie' to us
Jabari Parker's NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks got off on the wrong foot in 2014-15 after the 20-year-old forward suffered a season-ending ACL injury in December.
While seeing the court for even a minute was enough for Parker to lose rookie status officially, Bucks head coach Jason Kidd still sees the former Duke Blue Devil as a first-year player.
"Someone asked a good question. I didn't have the answer: 'Is he still a rookie this year because he only played 18 games?'" Kidd mused before the Bucks' preseason outing against the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "And so I don't know the answer to that, but in our eyes, he's still a rookie."
While Parker's recovery from knee surgery is going well, the team remains cautious in its approach to his inevitable return.
Even so, Kidd likes what he sees from Parker during practices, especially when it comes to his physical maturation.
"He looks great. If you were able to watch practice, I'm sure you guys would probably question why he's not playing," Kidd said, "because he's done everything. He looks great. But again, he hasn't been cleared by the doctors. But when you watch him out there in his warm-ups, you can see his body has changed and you can see in practice his voice has changed. He's talking a lot more."
Parker hasn't suited up for the Bucks during the preseason, and while he's expected to be healthy enough to compete on opening night against the New York Knicks on Oct. 28, his minutes will be closely monitored as the Bucks err on the side of caution with such an integral piece of their future.
He averaged 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in 29.5 minutes per game, starting all 25 games as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.