The Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks continue to be two of the more active teams during the 2019 NBA offseason, as they agreed to a trade that was largely completed for salary cap reasons. The Grizzlies are finally out from underneath Chandler Parsons’ egregious contract, shipping him to the Hawks after three underwhelming seasons in Memphis.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Grizzlies will send Parsons to Atlanta in exchange for forwards Solomon Hill and Miles Plumlee.
Memphis has agreed to trade Chandler Parsons to Atlanta for Solomon Hill and Miles Plumlee, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2019
Memphis and Parsons were unable to agree on a buyout number, so Grizzlies made the trade with Atlanta. As @BobbyMarks42 says, it's easier to move out salaries by breaking Parsons' $25M into two smaller contracts. Hawks free a roster spot. https://t.co/guRiX905mW
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2019
For the Grizzlies, this move was long overdue with Chandler Parsons eating away at their salary cap while playing a minimal role on the floor. Parsons signed a four year, $94 million contract with Memphis in 2016 and is owed over $25 million next season. Over his last three seasons in Memphis, Parsons has never once averaged over 20 minutes of playing time.
Now the Hawks will have to take on Parsons’ gaudy salary for this final year under contract, but perhaps he could mesh better with their young core than he did with Memphis. Atlanta’s depth at small forward has taken a major hit this offseason, as they lost both Kent Bazemore and Taurean Prince in separate trades. While rookie De’Andre Hunter figures to step in and start right away, Parsons isn’t a terrible insurance option for at least one season.
All three players dealt in this trade were on rather unfriendly deals, but the Hawks did at least manage to free up a roster spot while the Grizz added two bench pieces and shed Parsons’ massive salary.
This will be a telling year for Parsons who was once regarded as one of the league’s brighter young stars but is now in jeopardy of receiving little to no interest in free agency next summer if he doesn’t show flashes of his former self in 2019-20. With such a young exciting core in place in Atlanta, it’ll be intriguing to see how Parsons fits in and how involved he is in their nightly rotation.
