Early in the third quarter of the Bulls’ listless preseason road loss to the Hornets on Monday night, coach Fred Hoiberg put the ball in Jabari Parker’s hands to facilitate the offense.

The gesture was obvious. Here was a proud player with a new team — his hometown team to boot — who had missed 17 of his last 19 shots over the previous six quarters.

Make a play, Hoiberg’s coaching choice seemed to say. Find your rhythm.

“It feels good,” Parker said of Hoiberg’s move.

Parker didn’t score on either possession but, in initiating the offense, recorded a so-called “hockey assist” — the pass before the assist — on one. And later in the quarter, he powered to two dunks in the half-court offense.

At this point, when he’s averaging 8.7 points and shooting just 24.3 percent, Parker will take what he can get as he tries to assimilate.

“He does a nice job facilitating when he has the ball in his hands,” Hoiberg said of his move. “We’re going to look at a couple sets with him bringing the ball down the floor, hopefully with an open court, and see if he can get into the seam and make a play in the paint. I thought he made some really good decisions, especially early in that third quarter.”

Before practice Tuesday at the Advocate Center, Parker admitted to “maybe some anxiety and some anxiousness” about wanting to do right by his hometown Bulls. He’s getting paid $20 million to do so, with a team option at the same price for a potential second season.

To be fair, Parker has plenty on his plate. He began the preseason set to play his less natural position of small forward. When Lauri Markkanen went down for six to eight weeks with a right elbow injury in the first week of training camp, Parker shifted back to power forward.

Jabari Parker, the former Simeon star, joined the Bulls after 4 seasons with the Bucks.

Now Hoiberg is using him at both positions. And this is all while the fifth-year product from Simeon is trying to learn new offensive and defensive systems as well as adjusting to new teammates.

“In due time, those jitters will remove themselves and I’ll get back to playing the way I know I can,” Parker said.

Parker, 23, has been playing long enough to know the preseason is just that — a time to smooth wrinkles and find chemistry. He also hasn’t let his shooting woes affect his rebounding: He’s averaging a team-high 7.7 per game.

But there also have been some glaring issues, times when Parker and his teammates look like they don’t know if the Bulls are switching on defense or not. Like others, Parker has struggled with defensive transition.

“Just getting used to different guys and hearing their voices is pretty much important,” Parker said. “I knew it was going to take some time. It’s a new environment for me and other people too. I’m not looking at it in months. I’m trying to build years here. Every team in the beginning is going to take some bumps and bruises to get to where they are.”

The way Parker’s contract is structured, though, he might not have years. If the Bulls are struggling near the February trade deadline, his deal could be viewed as a movable asset.

Parker, though, is taking the long view.

“I’m getting better each game,” he said. “It’s going to be slow trying to know where I want to be on the floor and trying to adjust. It’s new to me. Just trying to get a better feel, a better rhythm. I knew where I could expect getting my shots with the previous team.

“It’s just pretty much like the practice before the big performance too. It’s important to get everything situated. I’m glad that it’s going now rather than later when it really counts.”

kcjohnson@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @kcjhoop

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