How does Parker's ACL tear change Bucks' current and future plans?

— -- As soon as Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker went down without contact while driving against the Miami Heat Wednesday, viewers feared a torn ACL. Those fears were realized Thursday, when an MRI confirmed that Parker had torn his left ACL -- the same one he tore a little more than two years ago as a rookie.

What precedent is there for re-tearing the ACL? And what does the injury mean for the future of both Parker and the Bucks? Let's take a look.

Precedent for re-tearing the same ACL

A couple of former NBA players tore the same ACL twice before reaching the league, at a similar age to Parker. Robbie Hummel tore his ACL as he was returning from an ACL injury the previous season at Purdue, sidelining him the entire 2010-11 season. Hummel returned in 2011-12 as a fifth-year senior and was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the 2012 draft, playing two years in the NBA before heading overseas. Waived by the Denver Nuggets last fall during training camp, he's currently playing for Khimki Moscow.

The Utah Jazz drafted Raul Lopez with the 24th pick of the 2001 draft only to see him tear his ACL twice playing in his native Spain before he signed with the team. Lopez missed his entire first NBA season and played just two years in the league before returning to Europe, where he played through age 36 before retiring last season.

Unfortunately, the cases of Hummel and Lopez don't add much clarity to Parker's future because it's unclear how their games would have translated to the NBA without the ACL injuries. Hummel was never a top prospect because of his limited quickness, while the 6-foot Lopez might have struggled due to his height either way.

So at this point, I'd default to thinking a second tear of the same ACL is no better or no worse than any other ACL injury. Ironically, Parker himself was one of the best examples of a successful comeback with the way he'd developed into an offensive force two years removed from his first ACL tear. Now he's going to have to do it again, and the Bucks will have to make some difficult choices.

Milwaukee, like Minnesota, faces tricky extension negotiations

I addressed a similar situation in? Saturday's reaction to Zach LaVine's ACL injury. Like LaVine, Parker will be eligible for a rookie extension next fall. However, Parker is expected to need 12 months for recovery and rehab, meaning he most likely won't be back on the court by the deadline to complete an extension the day before the start of the regular season.

On the plus side, Parker's value was probably better established before his injury than LaVine's. Parker was in line for something near a max offer, and potentially even to get the five-year maximum designated player extension that the Bucks did not give Giannis Antetokounmpo because he was willing to take slightly less than the max for four years.

Still, that same value makes it trickier for Milwaukee to justify letting Parker head into restricted free agency in the summer of 2018, where he could get an offer sheet from another team that allows him to return to free agency unrestricted after two years.

Bonus incentives or guarantees based on games played might help the Bucks mitigate the risk of Parker being limited by the injury while also giving him the opportunity to realize his full value when healthy.

Milwaukee's playoff chances take a hit

In the short term, the Bucks will miss Parker as they chase a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. While Milwaukee's recent slide had dropped the team to 11th in the East, two games behind the Detroit Pistons for eighth, the Bucks could reasonably believe they were making a bigger addition than any other playoff contender with Khris Middleton's return from a torn hamstring.

Sadly, Middleton's 2016-17 debut Wednesday came just before Parker's injury. The two projected Milwaukee starters shared the court for just six minutes total this season.

When Middleton is able to ramp back up to starter's minutes, he'll probably now take those played by Parker rather than replacing Tony Snell in the starting five. While Middleton is more of a wing and Parker a combo forward, Antetokounmpo has effectively served as the team's power forward on defense (at the same time he often serves as point guard on offense).

There's a case to be made that at full strength Middleton will help the Bucks more this season than Parker did because of his superior defense and outside shooting. Lineups with Antetokounmpo on the court actually played far better with Parker on the bench than on the court, per NBA.com/Stats data, potentially benefiting from improved floor spacing. But Milwaukee may have a tougher time generating offense with Antetokounmpo on the bench without Parker as a go-to scorer.

Ultimately, the Bucks probably needed to add Middleton to Parker rather than use him as a replacement to make a playoff push. Merely playing as well as before won't likely be enough; FiveThirtyEight's CARM-Elo projections show Milwaukee making the postseason in just 18 percent of simulations.

Adding another lottery pick to the Bucks' core wouldn't be the worst thing long term, but their bright future looks a little bit less certain after Parker's latest injury. To achieve their potential, they need Parker to make a full recovery ... again.