The Grizzlies were unable to deal Chandler Parsons ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline and the veteran is now set to rejoin the team after the All-Star break, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Parsons, 30, took an indefinite leave from the team in early January after both sides could not come to an agreement on his playing time. He left the Grizzlies’ third game of the season due to right knee soreness and has not played since.
“I am extremely disappointed that I didn’t get to finish this season alongside my teammates and the Memphis coaching staff,” Parsons told ESPN. “Unfortunately that option wasn’t presented to me.
“The Grizzlies training staff medically cleared me to play 5-on-5 in mid-December and I have been practicing with the team ever since. I will continue to work out and train until my agent and the team reach a resolution. I am ready to play and committed to getting back on the court.”
In late December, Parsons cast blame on general manager Chris Wallace for keeping him sidelined. The team reportedly wanted to send Parsons to the G League but refused to tell him how long the stint would last. Under the collective bargaining agreement, veteran players have the power to refuse G League assignments.
“No communication. No nothing,” Parsons said at the time. “I don’t think it’s from a basketball standpoint. It’s definitely not from a health standpoint. I’ve been cleared by the medical staff of our organization, and clearly it’s not about fitting. I already earned a starting spot out of training camp and have shown I can fit with the team. I think the confusion for me is there’s no communication about what’s going on and when I’m going to play.”
Parson will not go to the G League before his return, tweets Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian.
At his peak, Parsons averaged 16.6 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 74 games with the Rockets in 2013/14. Memphis signed Parsons to a four-year, $94.6MM max contract in July 2016. However, a series of injuries have limited Parsons to just 73 games (45 starts) since joining the Grizzlies.
After several deadline deals, most notably the trade of Marc Gasol to the Raptors, the Grizzlies are a different team from when Parsons initially took an indefinite leave. Now, it remains to be seen how he will fit in with the current roster.
GOAT
His agent deserves every penny of his commission.
At this moment, he’s earned 1.3M per game. The agent is the GOAT.
If you gotta pay em, may as well play em.
Why is it ok for the Grizzlies not to play him, or the Bulls/Rockets not to play Melo? Then the Pelicans get fined for not playing Davis.
AD sells the NBA. The product that the league offers is way lower without him, while no one pays to watch the guys you mentioned. Everybody pays to watch AD… Also Pels are the most idiotic team ever that alone deserves a fine in itself though should be much bigger than the one from the league… at least x10/100
Probably because Melo/Parsons haven’t been great this year, whereas Davis is an all-star.
Disagree on the fine, shouldn’t have been any fine for NO. Pelicans should be able to do what’s best for the organization….afterall AD’s public trade request was stated as being in his best interests.
No pels deserve to get any fine they get. Fans pay to see the best. Sitting AD for no reason at all but because they are bitter makes no sense and deserve a fine. Fans don’t pay to see Stanley Johnson. No they pay to see AD
Not true. They pay to see the league. NO PLAYER should be held above the league. That is the biggest reason the league is in the situation it is in. The NBA survived without Kobe, without Jordan, without Magic, without Bird, without Kareem, without Russell, without Wilt, without Mikan. It will survive without LeBron one day. It surely could survive without Davis as well.
At some point the league needs to let players know that none of them are bigger than the sport.
I believe Parsons isn’t playing of his own volition, not because he’s being held out. I remember him taking a leave or whatever after a disagreement over going to the G-league.
Also before that, I have no idea if they’d win the argument, but the Grizz could at least plead that they were ensuring Parsons was good to go (before he took a personal leave or whatever it’s called). He’s “been healthy” more than once in recent years and each stint lasted less than a month before he was out again.
There’s no way to tell for sure everything that happened in Memphis with Wallace & Parsons. But Parsons refused to play in the G-league, not the NBA. And Wallace has had need for a SF due to injuries. Parsons could have been a huge help of late.
His departure/dismissal led to a bad trade for JustnHoliday and they are 5-14 since. Caboclo the new backup is not much better. It’s a good excuse for tanking but they were trying to win through their Gasol window and convey their 1strounder to start clean next year. They pick #6 right now and could still convey with some winning, so it’s not too late. Finally they will use him. (?)