Houston Rockets: Chandler Parsons In Prime Position to Step Up

Chandler Parsons is rarely mentioned as impact players next season for the Houston Rockets.

Obviously, Dwight Howard took the most attention this summer and was followed by how he can coexist with James Harden. After the two, focus then turned to Jeremy Lin and how he plans on redeeming himself after a season below expectations following Linsanity.

Alas, there’s a third-year veteran who has a great opportunity to open his game up for more productivity with this new look team. Parsons’ stats have only gone up since his rookie year and there’s no reason to believe the 25-year-old can’t do it another year.

Chandler Parsons can emerge as a solid third option on offense for the Houston Rockets. (Flickr.com photo by Norma Gonzalez/The Pan American)

With the talent in Houston now, opposing teams will be forced to focus their attention on the others mentioned earlier before they learn to negate Parsons. As other teams forget about his potential on offense, his shooting efficiency has gone up significantly from year one to two.

Averaging 15.5 points on 45 percent shooting last season, Parsons made a huge leap from his rookie year in 2011. In addition, he was seen as a stretch power forward for small-ball scenarios in Houston.

As long as Dwight Howard is in the paint, a part of Parsons’ job now will be to stretch the offense to give Howard flexibility down low and options on the outside when needed to be bailed out. Aside from the restricted area, Parsons shoots the most efficiently on the court in the two corner three-point spots at nearly 50 percent both apiece and combined.

Learning from Harden is bound to open up his ability to slash as well. Already a good finisher in transition, creating opportunities in the paint would be huge for Parsons.

Once he is able to enter the paint, Parsons will have multiple high-percentage scenarios to choose from. If he is unable to finish, dishing to Howard becomes a viable option. If not Howard, Harden can slip through the cracks and get the job done.

The more Parsons sees that he can finish at the rim, find himself open in the corner and be the guy making the extra pass to the open man, his importance to the Rockets becomes nearly irreplaceable. On a team that has a ton of youth and potential, Parsons is one of the younger players that is actually coming through for the team now as they emerge as a contender.

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