The playoff hopes of the Dallas Mavericks appear to be on life support.
According to a report by Tim MacMahon of ESPN on Tuesday, Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons is likely to undergo season-ending surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee.
The 27-year-old Parsons left Friday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors in the third quarter with a sore right hamstring but an MRI taken on Monday revealed that his hamstring pain was being caused by the meniscus tear, MacMahon reports.
Parsons is said to be seeking a second opinion before making a final decision. But seeing as this is the same knee that he underwent microfracture surgery on last May, the prospects are not looking encouraging.
While this latest injury is reportedly not as severe as the cartilage damage that necessitated the microfracture procedure last year, losing Parsons for the remainder of the year would essentially be a death blow to the Mavericks’ quest for the postseason.
Parsons had been enjoying a phenomenal second half of the season, especially since being moved to the power forward position, a lineup tweak that unleashed Dallas’ full offensive potency by letting Dirk Nowitzki to slide over to the 5 behind three starting guards.
Now with Parsons shelved, Wesley Matthews also banged up, Zaza Pachulia having completely lost the trust of head coach Rick Carlisle post-All-Star break, and the collective age of the rest of the roster, the Mavericks are on the brink of dropping out of the playoff hunt in the Western Conference. They are currently 35-35 on the year, just one game ahead of the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final playoff seed.
If Parsons’ season is indeed over, he finishes it with averages of 13.7 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game, and 2.8 assists per game. His knee problems are also sure to cast a cloud over his summer where he can become a free agent by declining his player option for next season. Parsons has previously been linked with the Orlando Magic, but these ongoing injury troubles could scare off a lot of other teams.
