NBA Free Agency 2017: 5 offseason needs for the Memphis Grizzlies
By John Buhler
4. A little less Chan-cun, a little more open threes
Congratulations, Memphis! You made the worst deal of the 2016 NBA offseason by giving all that money to always-injured small forward Chandler Parsons. He played in 34 games and averaged 6.2 points on 33.8 percent shooting.
One could easily argue that Brock Osweiler had a better year for the Houston Texans on a $72 million contract than Parsons didn’t on the first season of a four-year deal worth $94 million. Memphis need a little less Chan-cun from Parsons and a few more open 3s in 2016-17.
The truth is Parsons can be the third-best player on a contending team, as long as he is healthy. He’s not an All-Star level player, but having him near full strength would be huge for Conley, Gasol and the rest of the Memphis starting lineup.
Since the next three years of his Memphis contract are fully guaranteed, the Grizzlies do need to get creative to find reliable wing depth in free agency or in the draft. Though they did back up the Brinks truck to land Parsons last summer, Memphis can’t again break the bank to sign a marquee free agent out on the wing this summer.
Re-signing small forward JaMychal Green seems like a sure thing. That being said, Green will cost a pretty penny, something the Grizzlies could hurt with Conley, Gasol and Parsons making a boatload.