ESPN sources say Mavericks and Rockets RFA Chandler Parsons have reached agreement on three-year offer sheet worth in excess of $45 million
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 9, 2014
I’ve gotten two questions very often over the past few months: Should the Celtics pursue Chandler Parsons or Gordon Hayward? Both are good, young swing men in the mid-20’s and definitely up-and-coming… so of course people would be interested.
But the market for them has been way out of the Celtics price range. After Hayward agreed to a max offer sheet from Charlotte (4-years, $63 million), the Dallas Mavericks just dropped a bomb by offering Parsons similar money…. somewhere in the $15 million a year range.
That’s some good cake. Really good. Excessively good, even. But that’s the bitch of restricted free agency (and why Ainge was quick to lock up Avery Bradley)… if a team really wants to lure a RFA away from his current club, they have to overpay. Give the guy what he’s actually worth and his team will probably match it. And not only will they match it, they’ll screw with you and your cap space by making you wait the full 3 days so you can’t do any other business (signed offer sheets place a hold on your cap in that amount the second they’re signed, and it remains there until a team decides to match or not).
Add to that a wild market where a lot of money is being thrown around and you have a climate where Parsons and Hayward are making on a few million less than Paul Pierce’s career best $19.7 mil. in ’09-’10. That’s how it goes.
The Parsons signing is a MAJOR domino to fall here because it puts a ton of pressure on the Houston Rockets to make a decision. They can match the offer and start filling the cap space they’ve been saving, or they can decline and go in a different direction.
They have reportedly been talking about a max offer for Chris Bosh, who has been reportedly sitting around waiting for LeBron James to make a decision. If the rumors are true, he’ll go back to Miami for another run if LeBron returns. But if LeBron goes to Cleveland, Bosh throws up the deuces and leaves South Beach. However, the Rockets may just put the pressure on Bosh to make a decision within that 3-day window before making a decision on whether to match the Parsons offer.
So we have a potential situation where LeBron takes his sweet time making a decision and Bosh just says “screw it, I’m done waiting” and goes to Houston. Once that happens, LeBron is sure to go to Cleveland, which totally shifts the balance of power in the East. Carmelo Anthony has reportedly decided to go back to New York, which would remove another player from the mix… but…
the deal on the table from the Knicks is a max contract worth $129 million over five years. Barring a last minute change of heart — or the Chicago Bulls being able to convince Jackson, the Knicks president, to engage in a sign-and-trade — Anthony will re-sign with the Knicks.
Nothing’s official until it’s official. But the pressure is now being turned WAY up.
Parsons and Hayward got PAID, and in the process they’ve set the free agency wheels in motion. The rest of this week is going to get tremendously interesting.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
