As part of a splashy offseason that saw them re-sign legend Dirk Nowitzki and bring back his 2011 title running mate, Tyson Chandler, in a trade with New York, the Dallas Mavericks received a somewhat unexpected boon with the Rockets decision not to match their three-year offer sheet to restricted small forward Chandler Parsons. Contentiousness in Houston over the move and its aftermath aside, the Mavs have to be thrilled to bring in another strong complementary piece for Dirk; one who, given his range and diversity of skills, will keep Dallas among the leagues elite offenses despite a reasonable amount of turnover to the supporting cast.
Though of course their overall games and areas of contribution are different, Parsons will be expected to fill, and well exceed, the void left by veterans Vince Carter and the likely-departing Shawn Marion. Both had evolved into integral glue guys for Dallas, complements alongside Dirk and Monta Ellis capable of guarding multiple positions and contributing everywhere. And though Marion, in particular, was likely overpriced last year, those two combined still earned over $2 million less than Parsons will in the upcoming year. Will Parsons, entering his fourth year in the league, be able to make enough impact to justify the move? And more importantly, will he be worth the near-max number Dallas has invested in him?
Using numbers from last season, defensive comparisons between the three yield mostly a wash. Marion certainly has the strongest defensive pedigree of the three, but at 35 last year he was far from his peak in this regard, and the Mavs were actually over four points-per-100 better defensively when he sat down. Parsons sported a three-point negative discrepancy of his own for Houston, but contrasting the levels of responsibility here are difficult given vastly different personnel. Carter was the only one of the three who saw his team get worse defensively when he hit the bench, but he started zero games all season and therefore saw more time against bench-heavy units, and also had the benefit of playing far more minutes than Marion alongside Jae Crowder, easily Dallas best overall defender last year by the numbers.
Parsons certainly isnt anything special defensively, often a slow, lumbering presence who has trouble with quick 3′s on the perimeter and even more trouble with any strong post player (he allowed a terrifying 47.4 percent on shots out of finished post sets last season, per mySynergySports). Hes bad at navigating screens and often lazy recovering from them, and the Mavs may have to pair him with Crowder often to keep him from having to guard top opposing wings too frequently. But the addition of Tyson Chandler at the rim should improve the overall defensive culture, and the largest element in Parsons favor is his age; hes over a decade younger than either Marion or Carter, and even if he never reaches average at his position defensively, hell remain a physically able body over the life of his contract where such a circumstance was far from guaranteed with both the other two.
