Washington Wizards 2018-2019 Player Grades: Jabari Parker

What Went Wrong

Defense

Despite Parker’s array of offensive skills, his defensive abilities aren’t nearly as impressive. After all, he did admit that “they don’t pay players to play defense”  upon his arrival in Chicago. So his deficiencies on the defensive end were not a surprise when he joined the Wizards, but they were still there. And they still hurt the team.

Playing largely against opponent’s second units, Parker was able to hide (somewhat) on the defensive end against players that were slightly below starting caliber. When he did match up against top scoring options, the mismatch was painfully apparent.

Defense might not determine your salary, but it certainly affects your playing time. It certainly did with Parker.

Turnovers

While Parker was always willing to make the extra pass, it wasn’t always the best pass. Or even the right pass. Parker’s intentions usually seemed pure, but the results weren’t always assists. In fact, Parker’s 2.7 turnovers per game were tied with Bradley Beal for second most this season behind John Wall‘s 3.8. Parker was accountable for as many turnovers as Beal, the team’s primary ball handler, despite playing nearly 10 fewer minutes per game.