Opting out of his deal with the Dallas Mavericks, Chandler Parsons could come back to the team, but he’s going to get a lot of interest from a certain point in free agency, with the Orlando Magic already showing it.
Parsons, who has missed 37 games over the last two seasons in Dallas since signing a three-year, $45 million deal in 2014, is looking to get a max contract, as weird as it sounds. He opted out of a $16 million contract this season. While the contract he got from the Mavs seemed a bit exaggerated at the time, considering the rising cap space and how good Parsons is when healthy, it’s no longer considered that huge. However, from $15 million a year to max? That’s quite a jump.
Parsons believes he’s good enough to get that kind of deal, although last time he was a restricted free agent. After five seasons in the NBA, Parsons is hitting free agency following a down year, averaging 13.7 points in 61 games, with his accuracy improving to 49.2% from the field and 41.4% from beyond the arc. He plays a lot of power forward in smaller lineups, and the Mavs were slightly better with him on the floor than without him, but his influence was a lot greater in his first season with the team.
The Mavs are going to look very different next year, which is almost like a tag line for every offseason they’ve had since winning the NBA title in 2011. The Mavericks haven’t been able to win a playoff series since, knocked out of the first round in five games by the Oklahoma City Thunder a couple of months ago. Deron Williams opted out, Dirk Nowitzki opted out, while Zaza Pachulia, David Lee, Raymond Felton, Charlie Villanueva and Dwight Powell are hitting free agency.
The Mavericks want to bring back Parsons, but they’re probably not going to pay him the kind of money he’s looking for. Which brings us to the Orlando Magic, who have shown some interest in former players from the state of Florida, including Parsons, who played for the Gators from 2007 till 2011. The Magic are looking for some shooting and playmaking which they gave up on when trading Victor Oladipo, and Parsons could fill in both needs. However, both teams, and anyone else interested in Parsons, needs to consider his injury risk, and maybe put something in the contract about it.