Chandler Parsons Is Crucial Link from Nowitzki Era to Dallas Mavericks' Future
SAN ANTONIO — With more than an hour to go before the San Antonio Spurs hosted the Dallas Mavericks in Tuesday's season opener, the visiting team's newest star took to the court for a little shootaround.
Chandler Parsons drained countless three-pointers, showing off the perimeter pedigree he established in his first three seasons with the Houston Rockets. These weren't just any three-pointers, either. They came from four and five feet behind the arc, regularly drawing nothing but net.
The emergent 6'9" forward will do good things for the team that plucked him from restricted free agency this summer in part because of that range, which translated into a 37 percent success rate from behind the three-point line a season ago.
He'll space the floor, use his long strides en route to the basket and make a few plays for others in the process.
In the big picture, he may well be the heir to Dirk Nowitzki's throne. While no one expects him to fill those legendary shoes entirely, the hope is that Parsons becomes the kind of centerpiece who can carry a team on the offensive end.
In time.
For now, some patience is in order.
The 26-year-old scored just five points Tuesday night while converting on two of his 10 field-goal attempts. The last of his eight misses—a 28-footer with one second remaining—would have all but clinched the game for Dallas, which instead lost by a narrow 101-100 margin.
"It sucks to play like that on the first game, but it's only one of 82 games," Parsons told reporters after the game. "It's going to take some time getting used to playing with everybody, but it's just one of those nights where I couldn't get anything to fall. I've got to be better.
"I took good shots. I missed a couple cheapies at the rim and a couple wide-open threes. I'll take those every game."
One game isn't much of a sample size, and the Mavericks have plenty of time to get the Florida product into a better rhythm.
As NBCSports.com's Brett Pollakoff noted after the contest, "It's going to take some time for Parsons to get used to his new role playing alongside completely new teammates, and it's possible that opening-night jitters, along with playing against the defending champs on national television, simply had him on edge more than usual."
The good news is his approach and mindset are already in fine form.
"I've got to step up," he added Tuesday evening. "I can't have too many more nights like that. I'm more than confident in myself. I'll bounce back."
Head coach Rick Carlisle agreed.
"He's going to be fine," he told reporters after the game. "I like an awful lot of the things that he did do."
Indeed, Parsons played within the system and looked comfortable alongside his new teammates. He even showed off his athleticism with a driving first-quarter dunk that got his Mavericks debut off to an encouraging start.
But scrutiny is to be expected.
Parsons will make $14.7 million this season, the first in a three-year contract that guarantees him a player option for the 2016-17 campaign. That's an epic raise for a guy selected with the 38th overall pick back in 2011 and was paid accordingly.
"I think the challenge is—or the responsibility is—when you start getting paid like a max guy or close to it or a franchise guy, you've got to be there every night," Nowitzki recently told reporters. "You can't have a 20-point game one night and then no-show the next night."
"Yeah, he wants to, I'm sure, show that he's worth the money," he added. "That will be in his head some, but we don't want him to put extra pressure on himself and do more than he was doing."
Pressure will be somewhat inevitable given the organization's championship aspirations.
The Mavericks had initially targeted and hosted Carmelo Anthony during his free-agent tour this summer, but Parsons became the next best option when the New York Knicks kept their superstar forward in the fold.
To be sure, the 36-year-old Nowitzki is not ready to pass any torches just yet. Like Parsons, he has a player option for the 2016-17 season, by which point he's likely to remain an All-Star-caliber threat on the offensive end.
So Parsons will continue to find his way in Dallas, working to complement Nowitzki and guard Monta Ellis, who led the Mavericks with 26 points and six assists Tuesday night.
This will be a process, but make no mistake about it. Parsons is ambitious and aspires to be more than the sidekick he'd become in Houston.
"I want to prove I'm worth that [$46 million payday], and I want another contract," he told ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon in October. "And I want to win big. I came here looking for a bigger role, I came here for more leadership, and I'm ready for that next step in my career."
Parsons attempted a career-high 13.3 field goals per game last season, and that mark may not rise dramatically overnight. Dallas does, however, give Parsons more opportunities to have the ball in his hands.
Whereas James Harden dominated the rock in Houston, the Mavericks are less inclined to let the ball stick in any one place—save for Ellis' tendency to dribble a bit or Nowitzki's opportunities in the post.
And as Dallas' most reliable deep threat, Parsons will automatically command the ball whenever he gets a good perimeter look.
With swingmen Vince Carter and Shawn Marion departing this summer via free agency, Parsons will find no shortage of minutes on the wing. Jae Crowder and Richard Jefferson can provide some relief, but there's hardly a position battle at small forward.
If Parsons wants a bigger role, he probably came to the right place.
He's coming into this prime of his career, an upward trajectory that coincides with Nowitzki's inevitable decline (or retirement). He'll have every chance to prove he's the superstar owner Mark Cuban has craved.
"One day, [being the face of the franchise] would be great and that would be ideal, but this is Dirk's team," Parsons told reporters recently. "Dirk made this team. He's done so much for this organization, so it's hard to even talk about filling those shoes because they're huge shoes to fill.
"He's got three years left. Hopefully I can make it longer than that. I'd love to play with him for a long time, but whatever he's got left, I'm going to try to absorb everything from him."
Indeed, there will never be another Nowitzki—in Dallas or anywhere else.
But life will one day go on for the post-Nowitzki Mavericks, and Parsons may very well be the guy who keeps this franchise relevant. He may go from recruited to recruiter, helping to build a roster that can remain in the title conversation rather than suffering a protracted rebuilding process.
In some respects, the next two or three seasons are an audition for that role. They'll determine how Parsons responds to increased pressure and responsibility, whether he's the kind of leader who can guide the Mavericks on and off the floor.
His relationship with the organization could theoretically continue for another decade, but both sides must prove something to one another first: that this is the right fit.
Tuesday's opener will have little bearing on that question.
It's but the first, inconsequential preface to a story that's just getting started. Parsons has plenty of time to write the next chapter.
Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.
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