Patience Has Been The Theme For Chandler Parsons

The Dallas Mavericks had high expectations when they signed Chandler Parsons and patience has been key throughout the whole process.

July 2014 was a month of change for the Dallas Mavericks. No, they didn’t sign the “big fish” that has been the trend throughout the past four summers for the team, but they did sign an important player for the team’s future.

Chandler Parsons, a restricted free agent at the time, signed a three-year, $45 million offer sheet in the depths of a Florida club. Mark Cuban had made the trip out to make it official with Parsons in hopes that the Rockets would not match the offer … and they didn’t. In the span of four days, the Mavs had picked up a talented wing that was in his mid-20s and had not quite hit his prime yet.

Parsons spent the first three years of his career with the Houston Rockets. His numbers increased each season and in 2013-14, he was averaging 16.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. He had become a fan favorite playing alongside James Harden and Dwight Howard, but it was obvious that he was seeking more when he decided to pursue a deal with the Mavs.

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His contract was going to be much bigger and he wanted a larger role on a team where he could be a main component instead of a supporting scorer.

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Though the Mavs had just signed Monta Ellis a summer before that, Parsons was the first player they signed that they were genuinely interested in.

Ellis had some negative aspects to his game, such as his defense and three-point shooting, and the Mavs were hung up in all of th Howard drama, creating a situation where they basically signed Ellis out of desperation since there wasn’t much left on the market at the time.

The Mavs pretty much knew they weren’t going to be able to persuade Carmelo Anthony to come to Dallas and Parsons was a possible target for the team, plus he was one player capable of playing a complete game.

In his first season in Dallas, his numbers took a slight hit, with each major offensive category dipping. Despite that, he had a solid season before tweaking his knee on April 2, leading to him miss the rest of the season, except for Game 1 of the playoffs. It was eventually announced that Parsons was out for the year and that he would need right knee surgery to repair cartilage.

At first, the surgery was described as arthroscopic surgery. Then, before the 2015-16 season began, it was revealed that Parsons had actually had a minor hybrid microfracture surgery, something much more serious, but also something that would help his recovery time.

At that point, questions began to rise as to if he was going to be able to return to his normal self. He went on to miss the entire preseason and the first two games of the regular season before making his season debut against the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 1.

The process of getting Parsons back into the right form took some time and patience. He began with limited playing time, ranging between 10 and 15 minutes, before working his way up to normal minute totals around mid-December. Throughout the process, he was not allowed to play back-to-backs.

Though it has been a long time coming, the Mavs are finally starting to see the results they want out of their star small forward. He has had recent scoring outings of 25, 26 and 30 points and has shot at least 50 percent in each.

He still has a ways to go but his shooting and movement has looked more natural and he looks to be finally turning the corner this season after a very hard surgery to recover from.

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The problem with this is that a lot of Mavs fans are frustrated with how long it is taking him to get back to 100 percent. Many had the expectation that as soon as he came back, he was automatically going to be his old self and that just wasn’t the case.

To make things more complicated, some are under the influence that Parsons is the next Dirk Nowitzki of the franchise when, in fact, he simply isn’t and he’s just a player that still has some learning to do.

The bottom line is that patience has been key ever since it was announced that Parsons was going to need knee surgery.

It was obvious that he was going to need a while to recover and it’s understandable that frustration has formed with him not playing well despite having a huge contract, however, he put in the effort to get back on the court and contribute as soon as possible, and he’s still making progress.

He recently spoke on some of the work he does in his free time, adding that he and Nowitzki often get together on off-days to work on shooting.

"“Pretty much every day, even on off days we come in. I wouldn’t want to work with anybody else in the league. Ever. That’s a resource that I’ve had here for over a year now, and I’m just starting to take advantage of it. And he’s been great. Just little pointers, nothing too drastic.”"

It’s also kind of hard to focus on playing better when you are matched up with LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant in the span of 10 days. In the past month or so, his clutch time has been split up between himself and Raymond Felton, among others, and that is going to be another motivating factor in his rise.

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Chandler Parsons is just now starting to show us his old style of play and the Mavs are a really good team when he is on his game. He is going to be a major part of the offense for some time, as I expect him to be back with the team after his contract is up, so it was important to make sure he was eased back into action.

Patience is the key to any major injury and it will continue to be the key to making sure Parsons can rise to the level that the Mavs want him to be at.