Chandler Parsons signed an offer sheet with the Dallas Mavericks today.
A team I literally hate. (To be fair I hate Dallas in general though. Not Sorry.)
(Cry Me A River just came on My JT pandora station. So fitting.)
So to catch everyone up on what I'm talking about, Houston Rockets Small Forward Chandler Parsons had an option on his contract this year.
Basically meaning that the team could choose to take the last year on his contract, or let him go to Restricted Free Agency. It's an option teams put on contracts, usually on players they're not completely sure on, to protect themselves should that player not turn out to be worth the salary hit.
(Restricted Free Agency essentially means that the player is free to talk to other teams, but ultimately the Rockets have the final say on whether they want him or not.)
BUT WHY ON EARTH WOULD THE ROCKETS DO THAT TO A PLAYER WHO THEY VALUE?
Fair question dear reader. The Rockets did it in order to lock him up for a longer period of time. See, Chandlers option didn't even have him making 1 million dollars this year, and allowed him to be an UNRESTRICTED Free Agent at the end of the next season.
Congrats to Rockets GM Daryl Morey for thinking that wasn't enough and wanting to curb that early. Negotiating contract extensions in season is less than idea, and unrestricted free agency means there's no guarantee that Chandler doesn't take less money to play somewhere closer to home or with old teammates, etc.
(Also, Chandler is my favorite player. I loved him at Florida. I told every one how good he was when he got here and no one believed me.)
So lets get to today. Chandler signs an offer sheet with the Dallas Mavericks for 3 yrs/$45 mil. (Well technically it's signed at 12:01 on 7/10.) This gives the Rockets 3 days to match the deal.
3. days.
Well played Cuban. See this creates several problems for the Rockets.
1. They're chasing after Chris Bosh. They have reportedly offered him a max contract at 4 years/$88 mil.
2. They need to get rid of Jeremy Lin...again, AND Asik, to make Salary Cap room.
3. They now have a 72 hour window to do this in...except...
4. Nobody knows what Bosh is going to do because nobody knows what Lebron is going to do.
How is Lebron relevant? Well... If Lebron goes back to Miami, there's a fair chance that Bosh does too. If Lebron goes back to Cleveland...well you're probably looking at Bosh in a Rockets jersey.
5. But if they both go back to Miami the Rockets aren't QUITE in the bind we're currently looking at.
And do we now understand why this is an issue?
So why is Chandler worth all of this stress? (And yes, I know that I admitted already he's my favorite, but I'll put as much of my bias as possible to the side while talking about his play. I'm pretty good at admitting areas of weakness in sports, fortunately.)
- He plays Defense. Unlike a certain bearded man on the court. ( Sorry Bodmer.) But seriously, at the rate at which Harden can be a HUGE defensive liability, Chandler picks up a ton of slack. It was probably the biggest surprise to me. If you watched him at Florida, he was all offense, all the time. He gets to the NBA, shoots free throws at a percentage that only Shaq has regularly seen, can't find a 3 rhythm, but SMOTHERS Kobe. Seriously, it's probably the best I've ever seen Kobe guarded. (If one of you mention the buzzer beater to eliminate from playoffs this year, I will kick you.)
- Boy can shoot a basketball. While his offense struggled in his first season, he seems to have finally found what made him so good at Florida. Like, do you know who owns the record for most 3 pt shots made in a half? Chandler Parsons, with 10. (side note: I've made maybe 10 3 pt shots in my WHOLE life from the NBA arc.) He gets hot from the arc, but he's big enough to drive the ball in the lane and push defenders around. (The muscle gain he's put on since getting to the NBA certainly doesn't hurt.) He once KOBE'D KOBE (it was beautiful). And who could forget those beauty put back dunks. Chandler BANG, indeed.
- He's important to the team. Game's when Chandler isn't playing well, typically don't go well. There was a stretch last season when he was hurt and not playing at all, and the Rockets played some of the worst basketball I've seen. Not an exaggeration. I literally remember watching a game, (nationally televised because, screw you CSN), and listening to the announcers lament his absence non-stop. He comes back, and everything seems to work itself out. Coincidence? Also, Harden, Howard, and Parsons all legit get along. They have fun OFF the court together. You can't BUY team chemistry, we've seen it time and time again.
- He's versatile. Seriously. So Kevin Durant is also a small forward. He's 6'7 which is pretty average among SF's BUT the guy's got a 6'10 wingspan, making his shot SO much harder to guard by any other 6'7 SF with a regular wingspan. (I can vouch to this from experience.) You know who is ACTUALLY 6'10? Chandler Parsons. He is a very big small forward. It's also beneficial in the sense that I've seen him drop to play Power Forward (more when we had Bud), because he has the size and the defense, but you don't see very many PF's that are extremely comfortable shooting/guarding the 3. (Except Kevin Love, but he's the exception not the rule.) I've seen him come up and play the shooting guard role when we go big on the floor. (6'7 is considered large for a shooting guard...so Chandler there is pretty ideal in certain situations.) Heck, I've even seen the boy run point before...but maybe like once. The point being that there's not really anywhere McHale can't stick him on the floor (in certain situations). How is that not ideal.
- I can't really believe this is a point I'm bringing up...but it is. Do you know what the average female attendance at an NBA game is? Between 13%-33%. Yes the stadiums tend to be smaller making tickets more scarce and the likelihood that someone buys family season tickets, including a female, much less than the MLB and NFL, but the point is Chandler puts females in the stands. Don't believe me? The Rockets tend to put on successful "Ladies' Night Out" promotions. While most teams tend to do something pretty dumb, and a little insulting to actual lady sports fans, the Rockets keep it stupid simple. Buy this ladies night out ticket and we'll give you an autographed CP picture and a meet and greet. AND IT WORKS. 80% of the Rockets jerseys I see on women are #25. Ask a woman to name players on the Rockets and I guarantee must women name off Chandler. (Only nerds like me complain about how we don't utilize Motiejunas. And yes, I spelled that without Google. ) I used to have Rockets season tickets, and I can personally confirm that as Chandler's popularity rose, I saw more women in the stands. And you want women in the stands. (I just recently read an article that said that stadiums with higher female attendance regularly boasted higher attendance rates overall. Less women saying no to nights out at the game and more couples buying tickets I suppose?)
So while I don't think that Rockets will let him go, I mean they did plan on him doing exactly this, I am a bit worried about the time frame. The number might be a little bit of a "sticker shock" but I just don't understand how the Rockets let him walk, especially to a rival. Let's hope that Morey is planning on staying rather busy the next 72 hours. (Hey DM, I will LITERALLY be on call 24/7 for coffee if you just get this done...) And let's hope Lebron will make a decision like...NOW.
***Update: I just saw a picture of Chandler celebrating with Cuban, AND his last tweet does not make me feel very good. WHY IS LES ALEXANDER NOT COOL OR FUN?
XOXO
p.s. while I can not be sure this is true, it IS funny...there's a rumor the Rockets have offered a Max Contract to Dirk Nowitzki? While obviously just a troll move if it is true, it would gain Morey some points he desperately needs in my book. I laughed.
p.p.s. apparently Morey also tried to trade for Dirk at some point when he wasn't sure they were going to land Howard and was in a panic. When he called Cuban he said "Since you're not going to get Howard, how about Dirk?" Which obviously pissed our Mavs owner off. Nothing like salt in the wound, eh? Anywho, in November when asked about Cuban was quoted as saying, "Payback is a b*tch." Well, i don't know what he had in mind but this feels like payback, and it is indeed a b*tch at this moment.
