Houston Rockets: Farewell Chandler Parsons

I always had a feeling things would end this way. When something is too good to be true, it likely is.

We are just one week removed from being on the brink of being a immediate favorite to bring the Larry O’Brien trophy home to the Bayou City for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Things were looking promising.

LeBron James had announced his return to the Buckeye State, Chris Bosh was ready to sign a max deal with the Houston Rockets and the probability was high that Rockets’ GM Daryl Morey was going to match the lucrative offer made by the Dallas Mavericks for Chandler Parsons.

Oh, how things changed so quickly…

The Heat worked feverishly to retain Bosh by offering him nearly $30 million more than the Rockets could and because Morey did want to maintain the utmost financial flexibility, he decided not to match the Mavs’ offer.

I honestly feel that this was Mark Cuban’s clandestine way of a payback to Daryl Morey for tackling away the big fish that he wanted to have last season.

Who was the big fish you may ask? Dwight Howard!

It was no secret that Cuban wanted to him to be the future anchor and cornerstone of the Mavs.

Mar 29, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets forward Chandler Parsons (25) drives to the basket during the second quarter as Los Angeles Clippers guard

Reggie Bullock

(25) defends at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

After all, Dirk Nowitzki is not getting any younger.

He may have a few more seasons left to play and is enjoying these last couple of fat paychecks he is receiving before he retires.

Nowitzki just recently agreed to three-year, $25 million extension that drastically reduces his current compensation from nearly $22 million this season to about $8 million per moving forward.

This immediately makes Parsons the highest-paid player for the Dallas Mavericks at $15 million per!

Did Mark Cuban know that he was going to have a legitimate shot to land Parsons?

My instincts say yes…

One does not become billionaire by resting on their laurels, they take action to make things happen.

And did he ever…

Parsons has always been a favorite player of mine, having followed him since his college days at the University of Florida.

In fact, the first game I personally saw him play was during the Southeastern Conference Basketball Tourney back in 2011, his senior year, during the period of time I would hit the road to attend the tournament annually.

I was thrilled to hear that we drafted him but I honestly did not know what his ceiling would be with the Rockets, thinking that our second-round pick would be an extremely talented sixth man — the first off the bench.

Boy, was I wrong…

He impressed fans alike with his high-flying antics, his rainbow-style jumpers all with the finesse that’s needed to excel at the professional level.

He is still the tall, lanky, talented sharpshooter that I saw then but he has added so much more to his repertoire.

Like his free throw shooting capabilities…

It was my biggest criticism of his game because he did not set the world on fire by hovering around a percentile in the 50’s in college.