Chandler Parsons is glad that the Houston Rockets ultimately chose to not match the offer he received from the Dallas Mavericks. While Mark Cuban was partying with Parsons and treating him like a top priority, the Rockets were out looking to see if they could do better. That did not sit well with the former Florida star.
On Monday, Parsons told Yahoo Sports that he was “offended” by the way the Rockets treated him in free agency.
“Honestly, I was offended by the whole process,” he said. “They publicly said that they were going out looking for a third star when I thought they had one right in front of them. I guess that’s just how they viewed me as a player. I don’t think I’ve scratched the surface of where I can be as a player and I think I’m ready for that role.”
The Rockets were looking to shed the salary cap space needed to sign Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James. They would not have been able to keep Parsons if they signed one of the aforementioned superstars, which means Parsons wasn’t their first, second, or third option.
Rather than matching the Mavericks’ offer of three years and $46 million, Houston let Parsons walk and signed Trevor Ariza to a three-year, $32 million deal.
“You can’t knock them for always trying to get better,” Parsons added. “[Houston general manager] Daryl Morey is very aggressive, is a genius, a great GM and I have nothing but respect for those guys. And they are looking to make their team better. That’s what they were doing. I just thought I could be that guy that could do that.”
On one hand, you could argue that the Rockets did Parsons a favor by opting out of the final year of his contract, which would have paid him south of $1 million. That allowed the 25-year-old, who averaged 16.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season, to make more money now. Despite that, Parsons said he is upset he was misled.
“Throughout the whole process they pretty much told me they were going to match everything,” he said. “I understand it’s a business. I understand they had to do what they thought was best for their organization. It definitely caught me off-guard a little bit.”
In the end, it probably worked out. Parsons should want to play where he is wanted more, which is obviously in Dallas. An average annual salary of $15 million is just fine for a player of his caliber.
