Houston Rockets
Chandler Parsons won’t be getting a free pass any longer
Chandler Parsons, the second round pick and best bargain in the league, is about to get an enormous payday and it’s going to drastically change how fans perceive him
The NBA is a business.
That much we know and it was confirmed again on Thursday when Rocket restricted free agent Chandler Parsons agreed to a three-year, $46 million deal with the rival Dallas Mavericks. The offer sheet was signed by Parsons at an Orlando nightclub with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban grinning by his side.
Ugh. pic.twitter.com/JXIFsPmj2q
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) July 10, 2014
We talked on the podcast last week about the animosity the Mavericks have for the Rockets, and this manifested itself here as Cuban made the contract as unfriendly for Houston as possible. It was a full max offer for what Parsons could receive and included a player option after year two and a 15% trade kicker — both of which will make it more difficult to deal Chandler.
(For a reminder, including a “player option” is the reason Goran Dragic is not still with the Rockets)
Though it was reported that some sign-and-trade possibilities were discussed, the Rockets received the offer sheet this afternoon and the clock has started. Daryl Morey’s crew now has less than 72 hours left to trade Omer Asik (the Pelicans still don’t quite have enough cap room yet to make this deal) and unload Jeremy Lin and additional players, yet they remain handcuffed from getting started because they are still waiting on LeBron James to make his decision so Chris Bosh can make his. If the Rockets match Parsons’ contract before landing a Bosh or other significant free agent, the cap room plan is dead.
It’s a mess.
Is Parsons worth $15 million annually? Personally, no, I don’t think so and I say that as a big fan of his. He’s the team’s best three-point shooter among rotation players and brings the most intangibles to the squad. He’s also just 25 years old and could continue to rise, but… $15 million? The Rockets are all about “value” and that figure is a hair more than James Harden is making. Nicolas Batum ($11.8 million) and Paul Millsap ($9.5M) are a couple of better values that come to mind. I match this deal if I can answer this question in the affirmative — can I trade Parsons on this contract next summer as a positive-value asset?
Not an easy question.
Why the Rockets put themselves in this position is a tougher one. The security and control of restricted free agency is one thing, but if they had correctly predicted he would get the full max, this would not have made sense. The Rockets could have kept Chandler for one more year at less than a million dollars AND had more cap room to work with. They clearly made it harder on themselves. Obviously, it taking this long for superstars to decide was one thing the Rockets could not control, but there are a couple of theories I have as to why Rocket brass made this now head-scratching decision.
One, the Rockets possibly agreed to a plan and deal beforehand with Chandler to let him out of his contract only to get bam-Boozer-ed here, seeing greed and the free market destroy that plan. As soon as Gordon Hayward got his full max, you knew the price for Parsons had gone up.
Two, that letting Parsons out of his contract was a condition for landing Dwight Howard in 2013. That was wildly gossiped about even last summer. Both Parsons and Howard share the same agent in Dan Fegan and both players can now opt out of their contracts in the summer of 2016.
But while that is all speculation on my part, one thing’s for sure — whether it’s with the Mavericks or the Rockets, the days of Chandler Parsons getting a free pass are over.
The second-round pick and “best value in the league” is now with the big boys. He’s no longer a bargain and will be scrutinized and judged by fans based on the amount of resources he’s consuming.
Take a look at Jeremy Lin for a good example. As a bench guy with the Knicks making half a million dollars, Lin’s amazing and surprising production was extraordinary. Once Lin signed that three-year, $25 million deal with Houston, expectations soared and he couldn’t meet them. He’s now a negative value contract despite being a useful player in the league.
The same is about to happen to the view of Parsons. His production-to-compensation ratio is no longer through the roof. While time will tell if he can meet those expectations, there won’t be easy forgiveness for poor shooting nights, defensive apathy or losing your assignment on a superstar with 0.9 seconds left on the clock.
There already has been a backlash. Currently just over 60% of Houston fans polled do not want the Rockets to match the deal.
Yes, the NBA is a business and a night of partying with the enemy will be easily forgiven with time, but fans are more and more plugged in to how that business operates and that massive contract is going to change how they view Chandler Parsons moving forward.
Houston Rockets
Podcast: Doncic to Lakers, Fox to Spurs and the Trade Deadline for the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
How the stunning Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers impacts the Houston Rockets
Dallas did the unthinkable by trading their superstar – what does this mean for Houston now and in the future?
Late Saturday night, the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis and a 2029 first-round pick.
I know, it doesn’t seem even remotely real. This is the most shocking sports trade of my lifetime. I can’t think of one bigger nor one more unbelievable.
The Mavericks have to know something about Doncic that we don’t. It’s being reported that his poor conditioning, weight issues and looming supermax contract were the biggest factors, but this is a young phenom who is hypercompetitive. He might very well haunt Dallas for a long time.
It’s an absolutely fascinating move. So how does this impact the Houston Rockets now and in the future?
The Rockets Couldn’t Get Luka?
The first reaction is of course, “Luka Doncic was available?!?” That leads to the inevitable question of why the Rockets didn’t get involved.
The simple answer is they didn’t know. Nobody really did — and it would not have mattered if they did.
This is a classic example of how sometimes in the NBA, it doesn’t matter how big of a treasure trove of assets you have. What matters is having the right single asset. Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison wanted Anthony Davis and that was that. The Rockets, with all their youth and picks, would not have been able to compete for Luka because they couldn’t help Harrison with his goals.
At the same time, this has to be maddening for Rockets GM Rafael Stone and the Houston front office, who have tried to position themselves for just such a trade when it became available. Doncic is 25-years old and was seen as an untouchable top-5 player, a dream target, the kind of player teams fantasize about stealing — yet the Mavericks booted him out of Dallas like a bad tenant in the dead of night. No league-wide bidding war — just unceremoniously traded while 28 other teams sat clueless, never even getting a shot at the prize.
Dallas could have had their pick of top young players and draft choices had they made this an actual competition so this trade will be questioned and second-guessed for many years to come.
Rockets Control Dallas’ 2029 first-round pick
There is a silver lining for the Rockets and that’s the control they have on Dallas’ 2029 first-round pick (unprotected).
The Houston Rockets own the right to potentially receive or swap the Dallas Mavericks first-round pick in 2029.
Kyrie Irving will turn 37 years old that season and Anthony Davis will turn 36. pic.twitter.com/JTwz0PA871
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) February 2, 2025
Dallas traded that pick to Brooklyn in the deal for Kyrie Irving in 2023. Brooklyn gave control of the pick to Houston as part of the deal to get their own picks (2025, 2026) back this past summer. So the Rockets control the best two first-round picks (unprotected) out of Phoenix, Dallas and Houston’s own first in the year 2029.
In this deal, Dallas’ core got older. Irving will turn 37 in the 2028-29 season and Davis will turn 36. This is four years away so a tremendous amount can change between now and then, but on paper it is a strong positive indicator for the value of that pick.
Keep in mind, the Rockets are unlikely to actually use this draft pick — they’re more likely to trade it to strengthen their current roster. So, what actually happens to Dallas four years from now isn’t as important as how teams around the league perceive the value of that pick right now and in the near future.
This looks like a potential win for Stone, Patrick Fertitta and the Rockets front office.
Impact on Western Conference
Both the Lakers (currently 5th seed) and Mavericks (currently 8th) are potential first-round matchups for the Rockets this postseason.
Los Angeles: The Lakers may have taken a short-term hit, but if Luka’s conditioning issues can be fixed, this trade completely revitalizes their future. Before this move, Los Angeles was still relying on a 40-year-old LeBron James with no clear path forward, especially with their draft picks already limited. Now, they’ve managed to land Doncic, who put up 33.9 points, 9.8 assists, and 9.2 rebounds per game last season at just 24 years old, in exchange for a 31-year-old Davis. That’s highway robbery.
The NBA just handed the Lakers another superstar lifeline (like Shaquille O’Neal, like Pau Gasol, like Chris “Basketball Reasons” Paul, like LeBron James, like Anthony Davis) and they took full advantage.
But right now, this is an odd fit. The Lakers have no size. More moves have to be on the way here so stay tuned on how the Rockets match up with this squad.
Dallas: Luka had been out for over a month and the Mavericks have been slipping. Dallas says they want to focus on defense and they do get that in Davis. They went from relying on two forces on the perimeter to putting the ball in Kyrie’s hands as the leader and leveraging their size in Davis, Derrick Lively (when he returns healthy) and Daniel Gafford.
The Rockets have excellent perimeter defenders, but their lack of interior rim protection makes it tough to handle Davis and any additional size next to him. This could be a real challenge for Alperen Sengun. While Sengun offensively dominated Gafford in their last matchup, he struggled against Lively — and Davis is on a whole different level.
But can Amen Thompson, Tari Eason and Dillon Brooks take out the head of the snake in Kyrie? Three-point shooting efficiency will likely be the key against Dallas. I think this is a tougher matchup for Houston right now, but long term, I think this really helps the Rockets. We will find out soon as Houston faces the Mavericks (without Lively) this Saturday.
One last potentially positive note to close on: Texas is fertile ground for free agents. No state income tax and warm weather have always been draws for NBA players, so having young superstars like Victor Wembanyama and Luka Doncic playing for your two rivals in the state had the potential to make things problematic when recruiting players trying to win a championship. Dallas loses that draw and becomes a team with a much smaller window… and who wants to live in San Antonio over Houston?