Memphis Grizzlies Hoping Chandler Parsons Can Revolutionize Offense

As the rest of the NBA has embraced the long-range shot, the Memphis Grizzlies have stubbornly operated within the arc. The team began its evolution into the modern NBA by signing Chandler Parsons to a maximum contract.

Playing at an unprecedented level of physicality took a toll for the Memphis Grizzlies last season and to begin their metamorphosis, the team targeted Chandler Parsons.

To convince him to leave the Dallas Mavericks in free agency, Memphis offered him a five-year, $94 million deal.

The team reluctantly set an NBA record by trotting out 28 different players during the 2015-16 campaign, as numerous injuries decimated the team.

Unlike any of the 28 players to check into the game for the Grizzlies last season, Parsons brings a dynamic the team desperately lacked last season.

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The impact of Parsons for the Mavericks extended far beyond the 13.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists he averaged last season.

Dallas dished out 3.8 percent more assists when Parsons was on the floor compared to when he sat on the bench.

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Adding another facilitator to the offense was a necessity since the Grizzlies dished out just 20.7 assists a night, tying them with Phoenix for the sixth-fewest in the NBA a year ago.

Not only can the 6-foot-7 forward create scoring opportunities for teammates, he brings the another missing dimension to the team, a potent 3-point shot.

Memphis has essentially ignored perimeter shooting, as the team has ranked 26th or below in 3-point field goal attempts in each of the past six seasons and converted just 33.1 percent of its attempts last year, only the Lakers shot at a lower percentage.

During the same six-year stretch, Memphis has averaged just 4.8 made 3-point shots a game and converted 33.7 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc.

The average team last season shot 35.4 percent from 3-point range and made over 8.5 attempts a game.

Even with so many players to choose from, the Grizzlies didn’t have a single player attempt more than three shots per game from 3-point range and convert better than 40 percent of their attempts from last season.

According to NBA.com, Memphis was only comfortable shooting above the break, connecting on 40.5 percent of its attempts as a team, but failed to shoot better than 35 percent from any other zone on the court.

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The team struggled converting 3-point shots from the corner. Memphis sank 136 long range shots from the corner, but at just a 32.2 percent conversion rate.

Converting 3-point shots from the corner was a specialty for Parsons last season, with Basketball-Reference crediting him with a 50 percent conversion rate on 3-point attempts from the corner.

Before his season was cut prematurely short, as he underwent a surgical procedure to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee in mid-March, Parsons was having the best shooting season of his five-year career.

Parsons shot 49.2 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from 3-point range, both marks serving as career-highs.

Memphis is well aware of just how effective Parsons can be shooting from beyond the arc, as the team surrendered 10 3-point field goals as part of a 34 point effort during his final season in Houston.

For each of the past four seasons, Parsons has connected 100 or more times from 3-point range, while the Grizzlies roster has submitted a total of five players with 100 3-point field goals in a season during the same four-year stretch.

Memphis is hoping Parsons will help the team become more comfortable shooting 3-point shots. Last season, Parsons and the Mavericks attempted 10.1 more long range shots than the Grizzlies.

The 27-year-old proved to be equally adept at creating open 3-point shots for teammates, as more than 40 percent of his assists to Deron Williams, Dirk Nowitzki and Wesley Matthews led to a conversion from beyond the arc.

To help facilitate the transition into a modern NBA offense, Memphis tabbed former Heat assistant David Fizdale as head coach, and he desperately wants to accelerate the tempo of the offense, as he told CBS Sports’ Matt Moore.

"“I’ve talked to all the guys and they understand where the league is at,” Fizdale said. “If we think we’re going to play in the 80s and win anything, we’re sadly mistaken. And they understand that and I think we’re going to have a committed group to playing at a faster tempo.”"

The Grizzlies played at the fourth slowest pace last season and have ranked last in pace during two of the past four years.

The signing of Parsons, with his ability to create open looks for teammates and stretch out the opposing defense, signifies a new chapter in Memphis.

Next: Memphis Grizzlies: 2016-17 Season Outlook

The switch from grit-and-grind to rapid ball movement and a darting the 3-point arc with capable shooters is ready to begin its first phase.