NBA
NBA Rumors: Chandler Parsons Heading to Dallas
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated16 Oct 2023
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Chandler Parsons told ESPN that Houston Rockets will not match offer sheet from Dallas. He will play for Mark Cuban and the Mavs.
via Jeff Goodman of ESPN – Twitter
As recently as Friday it seemed that the Houston Rockets would be signing power forward Chris Bosh and matching the Dallas Mavericks offer sheet for small forward Chandler Parsons. By Sunday, the Rockets missed out on Bosh, and decided to not match the deal for Parsons, allowing him to join the Mavericks.
Losing Parsons is a painful loss for the Rockets, who drafted Parsons 38th overall in the 2011 draft. Houston general manager Daryl Morey did not want to match the three-year, $46 million offer sheet, which would have been the third max, or near max, contract for the Rockets.
By letting Parsons go, the Rockets could have max cap room next summer, and pursue another star player. In Parson’s place will be small forward Trevor Ariza, who the Rockets acquired from the Washington Wizards via a sign-and-trade.
Parsons was one of the best values in the league the last few seasons, earning less than $1 million per season in his first three seasons in the league. He averaged 16.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, four assists, 1.2 steals per game and shot 37 percent from beyond-the-arc last season for Houston.
Wizards have engaged Rockets and Pelicans in three-team deal to facilitate Trevor Ariza going to the Rockets and Omer Asik going to NO.
Pelicans will get Asik, Omri Casspi & 1.5M from Houston. Rockets get Ariza from Wizards, Alonzo Gee and 2015 protected first from Pelicans.
via David Aldrige of NBA.com – Twitter
With Chis Bosh returning to Miami and Chandler Parsons heading to Dallas, the Rockets finalized a sign-and-trade for free agent small forward Trevor Ariza, Alonzo Gee and a 2015 protected first round pick. The Rockets send disgruntled center Omer Asik to the New Orleans Pelicans to play alongside Anthony Davis, along with Omri Casspi and cash considerations. The Wizards receive an $8.5 million trade exception.
Last season, Ariza averaged 14.4 rebounds, 6.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.6 steals per game and shot 40.7 percent from beyond-the-arc. At age 28, Ariza adds solid perimeter defense and valuable three-point shooting to a Rockets team that puts a high value on three-pointers. In fact, not only did Ariza shoot a higher percentage from beyond-the-arc in comparison to Parson (3 percentage points higher), but he did so while shooting much more frequently from deep (442 three-point attempts for Ariza, 351 three-point attempts for Parsons).
The Washington Wizards tried to retain Ariza, who ultimately opted for Houston’s four year, $32 million deal. Ariza will have the tough task of trying to get Rockets fans to forget about Parsons, who has been a fan favorite for the last three years in Houston.
Ariza formerly played for the Rockets in the 2009-10 NBA season.
Free agent Luol Deng has committed to signing with the Miami Heat, reaching agreement on a two-year, $20 million deal, league sources told RealGM.
Deng’s agreement with the Heat will include a player option for the second season, a source said.
Luol Deng, along with many other free agents, had to wait for LeBron James, and Carmelo Anthony to announce where they would sign before he could come to terms on a contract with any teams in the market for a small forward.
Deng, who was traded from the Chicago Bulls to the Cleveland Cavaliers last season, was being pursued by several teams, including the Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, and Atlanta Hawks. Deng spent over nine seasons with the Bulls, contributing tough perimeter defense, solid rebounding, and outside shooting.
Deng averaged 16 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and one steal per game and shot 30.2 percent from beyond-the-arc in 63 total games played between the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers last season. He joins a Miami team that is re-building on the fly in the wake of LeBron James taking his talents back to Cleveland.
The HEAT re-signed Chris Bosh to max contract, are set to officially re-sign Dwayne Wade as early as Monday, and have re-signed point guard Mario Chalmers and center Chris “Birdman” Andersen. The HEAT also added free agents Danny Granger and Josh McRoberts. Deng won’t be able to replace James’ production, but is a solid replacement who should fit nicely alongside Wade and Bosh.
