Dallas Mavericks: It's Official, Chandler Parsons Is Back

After a long, taxing process, Chandler Parsons is finally back to playing like his normal self and acting like a leader for the Dallas Mavericks.

All Dallas Mavericks fans knew about the scary offseason surgery that Chandler Parsons underwent last summer. A microfracture operation? A bone marrow transplant from the right hip? The situation sure did look like it was heading in a bad direction for the Mavs, especially because of Parsons’ three-year, $45 million contract.

Now, roughly three months into the season, he is thriving with the team. He did not play until the third game of the season and didn’t start playing back-to-backs until late December. However, throughout all the trials that he has been through, his recent play has been encouraging for fans.

Since Jan. 18, Parsons has been the best player on the team and he has had some solid, game-changing averages:

PPG: 23.8
RPG: 6.7
APG: 2.7
FG%: 57.2%
3P%: 61.1%
MPG: 37.0

Among those games, Parsons has had scoring efforts of 30 and 31, his two highest totals on the season.

Even though his play has elevated recently, he has been much improved for the month of January. His averages in points, rebounds, field goal percentage and three-point percentage have all steadily increased, which is a sign that he is starting to get his legs back under him again.

Though Parsons was destined to get back to his old ways at some point, there is one factor that is playing into his recent success: playing a different position. He has been getting minutes at the power forward position and it seems to be impacting his game in a very positive way.

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At 6’9″, it is easy for him to matchup with just about any power forward in the league. However, it’s not necessarily good for his competition. Many power forwards do not travel very far out to guard players unless they have to and they certainly struggle when it comes to chasing a player around on defense.

Parsons plays virtually every position on the court. Whether he is resting near the three-point line, waiting for a midrange jumper or attacking the paint, it takes a special defender to follow him around all game. That creates a problem for some of his recent power forward opponents like Amir Johnson of the Boston Celtics and Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma City Thunder, two players who are generally known as paint-based athletes.

By being guarded by a different position, Parsons is able to expose other players by dragging them outside and driving to the lane or simply shooting over them and creating shots. In an article from Mavs.com, he spoke on his recent success at power forward:

"“It just creates mismatches. You know, I can bang down there and play with bigger guys. And offensively, there’s not very many fours that can guard me out there, so I think it gives us a different look.”"

Just scoring more and shooting better haven’t exactly been the only keys to getting Parsons back on track, his body also looks healthier. On his drives to the lane, he is taking more contact and finishing in unique ways. Also, his shot looks a lot better than it did at the beginning of the season and it’s obvious that he has been able to use his legs more effectively in order to increase his field goal percentage. Lastly, his patented pump fake is creating even more opportunities than before.

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Though the Mavs are still struggling to beat elite teams, one of their most important assets is back to his old self again. If Chandler Parsons continues to play as well as he has recently, the Mavs are going to find it much easier to play complete games and come away with important wins.

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Dallas Mavericks: It’s Official, Chandler Parsons Is Back

By Cole Mentzel | Jan 29, 2016

After a long, taxing process, Chandler Parsons is finally back to playing like his normal self and acting like a leader for the Dallas Mavericks.