Sacramento Kings waive former No. 2 overall pick Jabari Parker

ByDave McMenamin ESPN logo

Friday, March 26, 2021

Following a flurry of trade deadline moves, the Sacramento KingswaivedJabari Parkerto help bring their roster back to the maximum 15-player allotment, the team announced Thursday.

The decision puts the NBA career of Parker, the former Duke standout and No. 2 pick in the 2014 NBA draft, in peril.

The 6-foot-8, 245-pound Parker has career averages of 14.8 points on 49.3% shooting, 5.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists in seven seasons, but the Kings were the fifth team he's played for, having bounced around the league after undergoing a second surgery on the ACL in his left knee in 2017.

Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks a year after the franchise brought in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Parker was once looked at as a star running mate to pair with Antetokounmpo for years to come before injuries set him back.

It will be an unceremonious ending to Parker's time with the Kings after appearing in only three games this season and averaging 2.7 points per game.

Since they parted ways, Antetokounmpo has gone on to win two MVPs while becoming one of the faces of the league. Meanwhile, Parker has played in just 105 out of a possible 198 games with Chicago, Washington, Atlanta and Sacramento.

Parker, 26, has signed contracts totaling nearly $55 million in his time in the league.

Sacramento also traded with the LA Clippers forMfiondu Kabengeleand cash considerations using a trade exception, dealt for Delon Wright from the Detroit Pistons for Cory Joseph and two second-round picks, added Terence Davis from the Toronto Raptors for a second-round pick and acquired Moe Harkless and Chris Silva from the Miami Heat for Nemanja Bjelica leading up to the deadline.