His return after sitting out the previous nine games came a day after the Bulls traded wing Justin Holiday, their minutes leader, to the Grizzlies and as power forward Bobby Portis remained out with an ankle sprain. With Portis' return imminent -- perhaps as early as Sunday -- Parker could just as quickly fall back out of the rotation as he entered it.
What's more certain is that coach Jim Boylen has the support of management in how he's handled Parker's situation. After the fifth game of his tenure, Boylen sat Parker, citing a need for better effort, particularly on the defensive end, in practice and games.
"They’ve been great," executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson said of the coaching staff's handling of Parker. "The one thing Jim has been really consistent with is the accountability aspect. I believe you can hold players to a certain standard of what you want as a coach. Jabari is a really good guy. You guys have been around him. He’s a terrific person. If we can acclimate him back into things, he’s going to get a chance. This league is about getting chances, even for players who have been through what Jabari has been through."
Parker is the Bulls' highest-paid player at $20 million this season. Shortly after he fell out of the rotation, his representation expressed to the Bulls that he'd like to play elsewhere. The parties have been canvassing the league for potential trade partners, but little interest has surfaced. Parker was averaging 15.2 points and 6.9 rebounds in 29 games entering play Friday.
Parker opened the preseason as the starting small forward, an experiment that former coach Fred Hoiberg shelved three games in. He then moved to a reserve role, back to a starting role when Lauri Markkanen and Portis were both injured and then back to reserve spot before falling out of the rotation.
Asked if the Bulls should've given Parker more time to assimilate at small forward given they knew that would be his primary spot on this team when they signed him, Paxson didn't express regret.
"When we went through that whole process, it’s not just Gar (Forman) and I making that decision," Paxson said. "We had interaction with Fred and his staff. We were all on board with that. That’s all in the past. We’re not even going to worry about that. With the situation the way it is, we’ll look and see if Jabari gets an opportunity. This thing will be fluid. We have a month until the trade deadline. A lot can happen."
Paxson continued to defend the signing of Parker, whom the Bulls hold a second-year team option on that they plan to decline if he's not traded or bought out.
"It goes beyond fit," Paxson said when asked what he learned. "I think it goes to how everyone meshes together. It’s all in building a team, what that’s about. Given where we were at and where we are at today, trying to roll the dice on a young talent is not a bad thing. A lot of teams have had success doing that. The one thing that we continue to do and we think we’re on the right track with is if something doesn’t work, it’s not going to be a long-term issue for us. We’ll continue to operate that way."