Daryl Morey just got burned.
Former Rockets Chandler Parson officially became a Dallas Maverick today when Houston declined to match Dallas’ 3 year/$46 million offer sheet.
Just heard from @dmorey and Mr. Alexander. Nothing but utmost respect for them, the fans and city of Houston. THANK YOU for your support!
— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) July 13, 2014
The refusal to match capped off a disastrous start to the off-season for Daryl Morey and company. On Friday, what was thought of as a sure thing in signing Chris Bosh took a turn when Bosh re-upped for 5 years and $118 million. With the Parsons offer sheet still live, that put Houston on the clock. They had until 11:59 pm tonight to do so.
Then news came on Saturday the team was at odds with their newest draft pick, Clint Capela. Capela is looked at as a raw project and was to be stashed back in France as to not count against the salary cap as Houston went after Bosh. Capela’s camp was not in accordance and still is not.
That same day the team signed former Wizard Trevor Ariza. Ariza played for Houston back in 2009-2010, averaging a career-best 14.9 points per game. His arrival cushions some of the fallout of Parsons to the Mavericks.
When the Rockets declined to pick up the option for forward Chandler Parsons, they knew this scenario was a possibility. Last season many saw Parsons as a steal. He earned $926,500. That made him the 307th highest paid player in the NBA. Now he’s the priciest player on the Mavericks. Third-highest paid on the team? Dirk Nowitzki.
The logic in this for Morey and Houston was that they could go after Chris Bosh and then sign Parsons later, loading up for next year. They did not want to lose Parsons as an unrestricted free agent with nothing in return, such as the Lakers did when Dwight Howard became a Rocket. Had they chose to pick up Parsons’ option, he would have only cost them $964,750 next season. His Bird Rights could have also been used, as to not count against the cap.
The Rockets have not only lost their third, fourth and fifth best players from last year, but also now have very little enticing trade pieces. Trading Jeremy Lin and a first round pick to the Lakers, along with Omer Asik to the Pelicans was done to make room for Bosh. Parsons could have been used potentially to get Kevin Love. What they do have is a lottery pick from the Pelicans and it will be interesting to see what they can turn that into.
One thing is for sure: Mavericks/Rockets games next season just got A LOT more interesting.
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