What Happened to Chandler Parsons' NBA Career?

there are NBA players who have salaries that don't exactly match up with their production on the court these guys have contracts so large that it cripples a team's flexibility to sign other players and well Chandler Parsons is one of those guys as a second-round pick he was one of the best contracts in the league when he was a rookie but now in 2018 it's the complete opposite.

When the Houston Rockets drafted Chandler Parsons with the 38th pick in the 2011 draft he was coming off a very successful college career he stayed at Florida for all four years in his senior year he averaged 11 points 8 rebounds 4 assists which got him the SEC Player of the Year for 2011 the Rockets signed Parsons to a four-year 3.6 million dollar contract. and at one point it was arguably the best contract in the league I would say it was the best at one point during his time in Houston the Rockets during Chandler's rookie year were a middle-of-the-road team and it was the year before they got James Harden Chandler got a lot of playing time in his rookie year because Houston was weak as small forward and Chandler played well enough to get on the NBA's all-rookie second team but it would get even better in his second year at less than a million dollars per year you were getting a foreword that was giving you 16 points six rebounds and five assists a night in his second season he was displaying his talents of a forward that can run the floor make three-point shots and at times put the ball on the floor and create for other teammates at six foot ten 230 pounds it also made him viable as a stretch power forward so you can get creative with your lineups to get that type of production from somebody on a light contract money-wise is huge because that's one of the keys to having a successful team if you have guys on rookie deals like Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown who are clearly out playing their rookie deals it gives your team a lot of flexibility going forward in his third and final year with the Houston Rockets in 2014 he started all 74 games he played in and averaged around the same numbers as he did the year before which is great for all the reasons I mentioned earlier his biggest accomplishment that year was setting the record for most three-point shots made and a half against Memphis Chandler only had four points on bad shoting shooting in the first half but went off and made 10 straight threes in the second half Memphis was still able to pull off the W though the Rockets made it to the playoffs for a second year in a row but they were knocked down in the first round again

it was an interesting summer for the Rockets in 2014 because they had to decide whether or not to bring back Parsons after he declined his fourth year team option which made him a restricted free agent restricted free agency means that the Rockets can match any offer another team gives the Parsons and bring him back the Mavericks signed him to a three-year forty six million dollar offer sheet that summer to get Dirk some help because he was taking pay cuts before he got that contract daryl morey said that they match any offer Parsons got but they decided on not bringing him back which has turned out well for them the reason the Rockets did not match the Mavericks offer was that if they brought Parsons back they would have no flexibility to get other players next to James Harden and Dwight Howard Harden said that he wasn't too worried about Parsons not being on the team because he and Dwight are the top guys and everybody else is a role player Parsons did not appreciate that comment and said that Harden should understand where he's coming from as he was looking for a larger role just like he was about a few years ago with a slightly bigger role on the Mavericks he gave them similar production as he did with the Rockets once he was off that rookie contract nothing Parsons did really impressed you because you wanted more from a guy that was getting 15 million dollars per year he did not give you much defense but the three-point shooting and playmaking was there in each of his two seasons with Dallas he had season-ending right knee surgery going into the 2016 summer he had a player option which he opted out of so he could get a max deal and he got that max deal he was looking for because the NBA salary cap was jumping the grizzlies made a bet that Parsons would get back to his normal self after the knee injuries they needed a shooter and playmaker next to Gasol to open up the floor so they gave him a four-year 94 million dollar contract which has turned out to be a disaster Parsons missed the first six games of the 2016-2017 season because he was still rehabbing his right knee Parsons came back under a minutes restriction for six games then went right back to the injured list with a bone bruise in his left knee he came back in late December but was super rusty and didn't look anything like the player he was in Dallas in 34 games Parsons averaged just 6 points and 2 assists in 20 minutes per game around this time the Parsons hate was picking up he was getting booed by his own home crowd that year and randomly when he went to a restaurant in Memphis a fan asked for a picture and the fan ass handler to say I ruined the Grizzlies season baby also that year he got roasted by CJ McCollum on Twitter Chandler replied to the Trailblazers official Twitter by saying good luck in the lottery show when they put up a video of him air balling a shot CJ responded by saying we hit the lottery by not signing you to which Chandler responded with stop it technically I hit the lottery you know that is a good comeback but Parsons would have to go through his third season ending knee surgery in March 2017 if you are accounting at home that's two surgeries on his right knee and one on his left this past regular season he had 24 points in a game against the Houston Rockets which was his highest scoring night in a Grizzlies Jersey he did not average too many points or assists this year but his percentages were a lot better than the year before but he only played in 36 games in 2018 because he was out with knee soreness four years in a row with knee injuries that is tough who knows how much he really has left it's unfortunate for the Grizzlies because at the time he was their biggest free agent signing and team's history and they could have used him in that playoff series versus the spur Chandler

Parsons is 29 years old and has two years left on his deal with Memphis I don't know what's next for him maybe resting for most of the year was a good thing but having to deal with so many injuries to your knee and someone at his height is gonna be tough to get back from I'm kind of rooting for him but there's a good chance he's never a starring level player again I'm sure he's disappointed that he's not a good player anymore but he'll be fine he has a lot of wealth and Instagram models to go on dates with he'll be good