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10:03 am | July 14, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:

1:56 PM ET

Adrian WojnarowskiESPN

The Chicago Bulls have signed free agent forward Jabari Parker the team announced Saturday.

It’s a two-year, $40 million deal, league sources told ESPN.

The agreement was consummated on Saturday, moments after Bucks GM Jon Horst removed the qualifying offer on the restricted free-agent forward and allowed him to become unrestricted.

The Bucks weren’t going to match a Bulls offer sheet, and the deal — brokered with Parker’s agent Mark Bartelstein — allowed a good-faith gesture for Parker to sign a shorter deal with the Bulls.

“We really love Jabari and wanted to work with him on this, because we weren’t going to match an offer sheet,” Horst told ESPN.

The second year of the deal is a team option, league sources say, which lowers the risk on Chicago based upon Parker’s two ACL injuries and gives both sides flexibility to turn a short-term relationship into a long-term deal should Parker stay healthy and productive next season.

Bartelstein needed to get the Bucks to rescind the qualifying offer because an offer sheet doesn’t allow for an option by either side. For Bartelstein and Parker, a $20 million guarantee after the past injuries and an uneven final season with Milwaukee is the best possible outcome to the choppy waters of restricted free agency.

The team announced it released guard Julyan Stone and forward Paul Zipser. Those moves were needed to help with the $20M in salary cap space needed in signing Parker.

Parker, 23, will return to Chicago, where he was the No. 1 recruit in America out of Simeon High School in 2013.

The Bulls are banking on revitalizing Parker’s career, restoring him to top condition and fulfilling his promise as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.

Parker has shown the promise to be an elite scorer in the league. The Bulls want to add him to a young core that includes Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr., Zach Lavine and Kris Dunn.

The Bulls plan to use Parker largely as a small forward.

Parker, 23, has suffered two different ACL tears to his left knee in his career. Parker had his best season in 2016-17 — averaging 20 points, six rebounds and nearly three assists in 50 games before suffering another knee injury.