Chandler Parsons sought a max on the open market and received multiple offers before deciding upon a four-year, $94 million deal with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Parsons had injury issues in each of his first two seasons with the Dallas Mavericks. Even if he were completely healthy, Parsons is already in his late twenties after coming into the NBA at the age of 23 after a four-year career at Florida. The Mavericks preemptively and emphatically ruling out the possibility of re-signing Parsons on a max contract is a well-defined indicator as to what they think of his injury issues. Dallas wasn’t able to offer a fifth year on Parsons’ contract since they only had Early Bird rights on him to decrease that annual average with more guaranteed money.

Parsons went from being a promising three-point shooter as an unexpectedly productive rookie to a 41.4 percent guy this past season on slightly less volume than his first season with the Mavericks. Parsons shot 1.23 points per possession on spot-ups, which ranked 16th in the NBA. Parsons can function on offense with his shooting, passing and ballhandling without being a high volume shooter though Parsons did score a very good 0.98 points per possession on isolations.

The Mavericks were 1.1 points per 100 possessions better on offense with Parsons on the floor.

Parsons joins a Grizzlies’ team still holding onto their championship aspirations after re-signing Marc Gasol last offseason and presumably soon re-signing Mike Conley. Parsons fits their timeline of contention even if it seems flimsy with how the balance of power in the Western Conference has shifted away from them over these past two playoffs. Memphis is doubling down on the near-term by re-signing Conley after doing Gasol's new deal last season and Parsons is their tripling down.

Parsons fits in well with the Grizzlies and allows them to play smaller with him at the 4 in ways Jeff Green never was good enough to on a consistent basis. 

The hope for Memphis is that the next two seasons with Parsons, Conley, Gasol and Zach Randolph as the core gives them one final shot at competing but those contracts will quickly turn burdensome and there probably won’t be a lifeline trade of those expensive vets like the one the Celtics found with the Nets in 2013. 

Grade for Grizzlies: C+ 

Parsons realized this was his last big payday and wanted to chase a big contract after a disappointing tenure with the Mavericks on multiple levels. Parsons found his money and high quality teammates in Conley and Gasol that will give them an opportunity to be on a playoff team with a significant role. 

Parsons has played the free agency game exceptionally well over his career whether as a recruiter or on his own contracts dating back to the Rockets letting him out of his absurdly cheap contract for 14-15.

Grade for Chandler Parsons: A 

With Dirk Nowitzki not going anywhere for another season or two, Parsons’ future is at the 4 and he’d still be stuck largely at the 3 with the Mavericks. The spacing he provides on offense is more valuable at the 4 and he doesn’t have the athleticism to stay in front of wings on defense 

The legacy of Parsons with Dallas will be the image of him in a suit during the playoffs and also his recruitment of DeAndre Jordan in 2015. The financial prudence of Dallas to let Parsons go in free agency makes them worse in the short-term but is a shrewd move for where the franchise has to go while clinging to those last playoff berths with Nowitzki. 

Unlike last season from the Rajon Rondo trade, Dallas doesn't have any future first round pick obligations, which is a nice in case of emergency option even though they have had no interest in that path to date. 

Grade for Mavericks: A