Charles F. Gardner

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

There never was a doubt it would happen.

But the Milwaukee Bucks made it official Wednesday afternoon when they exercised the fourth-year option on forward Jabari Parker's rookie-scale contract. The 21-year-old Parker was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 draft and will be owed about $6.8 million in the fourth year of the deal. He will make about $5.4 million this season.

The Chicago native will be eligible for a contract extension prior to the 2017-'18 season, just as teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo was this fall. Antetokounmpo signed a four-year, $100 million deal.

Parker is leading the Bucks in scoring in the preseason while averaging 16.8 points. He came back from knee surgery last season and played in 76 games, including 72 starts. He averaged 14.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists while shooting 49.3% from the field.

He was named to the Rising Stars Challenge as part of the NBA's all-star weekend in Toronto, and his play picked up after the all-star break. Parker finished the season with six double-doubles and three 20-10 games.

The Bucks (2-3) play their final preseason game Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers (3-2). Bucks coach Jason Kidd said his starting lineup would include Antetokounmpo, Parker, Mirza Teletovic, Matthew Dellavedova and Miles Plumlee. This may be the closest to a real game the Bucks have played, with regulars on both teams likely to play three-quarters of the game.

"We're very flexible," Kidd said. "There are a lot of guys who can handle the ball who can start the offense. But the one thing we've got to get better at as a whole, on misses and rebounding, we've got to be able to run. No matter who is handling the ball, we trust Giannis or Delly will make the right decision.

"Our first halves have been pretty good. We've got to get better in that third quarter. With the different lineups, guys just haven't been used to playing with each other. We'll see how we can improve that third quarter. In Detroit we came out slow. We'll see if we can focus on that tonight. The last two games we've had pretty bad third quarters, so that's something we've got to address."