Could Chandler Parsons’ Knee Surgery Cost Him Big In Free Agency?

The Dallas Mavericks announced Tuesday that Chandler Parsons is set to undergo yet another surgery on his troublesome right knee and will likely be out for the remainder of the season. That’s tough news for a team still currently in a four-way battle for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The good news is that the injury doesn’t appear to be as severe as the one that required microfracture surgery last year and hampered his productivity for much of the first half of the season. Instead, team doctors have indicated that the torn meniscus they discovered during an MRI on Monday will require an arthroscopic procedure, which carries a much shorter recovery time.

Regardless, the news certainly has implications for his pending free agency. Parsons can opt out of his contract this summer and test the waters, and there’s no reason to think he wouldn’t do so given the rising salary cap. But it begs the question whether teams, including the Mavs, would be reluctant to extend a max offer to a player who has struggled to stay healthy and on the floor the past two seasons. At least one front office exec has serious concerns about it.

Complicating matters further is just how good Parsons has been playing since the All-Star break: 17 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists on 50 percent shooting from the floor and better than 43 percent from downtown. For years, Parsons has been widely considered one of the league’s best values, and he’s been looking forward to a big payday since joining Dallas two seasons ago.

That still very well may come to pass this summer, whether in Dallas or elsewhere, but prospective teams should be understandably wary about the long-term implications of ongoing knee problems that have already significantly stunted his development.