Chandler Parsons’ sad Memphis Grizzlies career is reaching a depressing end

Chandler Parsons didn’t expect things would be like this. He signed a four-year, $94 million free agent contract with a Memphis Grizzlies team that had high expectations in 2016. But he’s only appeared in 73 games totaling fewer than 1,500 minutes in the three seasons since signing it.

Now, even though he’s healthy and his agent said on Dec. 28 that “he’s dying to play,” Parsons has been asked to leave the team while preparing for his return to the lineup. The other option was a trip to the NBA G-League. Parsons declined.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal’s David Cobb reports the Grizzlies “led Parsons to believe” his target date for return was Dec. 21. When Dec. 21 arrived, they rescinded that target date without an explanation. Cobb also reported, in a scathing piece on Memphis’ GM Chris Wallace, that head coach J.B. Bickerstaff wanted Parsons on the roster and would have used him in games.

Neither happened. Instead, the Grizzlies have asked him to prepare for a return to the lineup on his own, away from a roster that could use a boost after losing six in a row and 13 of their last 16 games. Even though Parsons told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski he’s “ready to play and committed to getting back on the court,” Memphis does not want him there. A return is unlikely. A trade, if there are suitors, is imminent.

“I am extremely disappointed that I didn’t get to finish this season alongside my teammates and the Memphis coaching staff,” Parsons told ESPN. “Unfortunately that option wasn’t presented to me.”

At age 25, he averaged 16.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and four assists for a budding Rockets team with championship dreams. It’s how he commanded a three-year, $46 million offer sheet from Dallas in 2014, one Houston opted not to match.

But Parsons has never been the same since. Injuries began to set in during his time in Dallas, and even though he finagled his way into one of the most lucrative contracts in the league at the time with Memphis, he has not been on the court to help his team.

Now, it’s unclear if a 30-year-old Parsons is the same player he once was. And even if he has the same skill set, will he get a chance to prove it?

After negotiating his way into a max contract, Parsons has been anything but a max player. His injuries have piled on top of each other year after year.

Rick Carlisle says Chandler Parsons is out of shape.

“Parsons looked tired out there. His shot was short. He’s working on losing some weight. He’s a little heavier than he’s been. He’s up over 230 and we’d like to see him get down to at least 225. That’s a work in progress. Tonight was one of those nights where I think the extra weight was a hindrance.”

Parsons sustains a sprain and bone bruise to his left ankle in a game against the Rockets. He is expected to miss at least three games and eventually sits out seven.

Parsons misses the final six games of the regular season with right knee soreness.

Parsons misses final four games of first-round playoff series against Houston with a right knee injury after returning to play ineffectively in Game 1.

Parsons undergoes a “minor hybrid microfracture surgery” to his right knee, which did not become public until much later in the summer. As Mavs Moneyball wrote:

After Parsons valiantly played through some knee soreness to try and help the Mavs in the playoffs in 2015, it was discovered shortly after that Game 1 against the Rockets that he would need to have surgery. The Mavericks played coy during Parsons’ recovery and it was only during the middle of the summer we found out Parsons had a form of hybrid microfracture surgery. It reportedly wasn’t as bad as the real deal, but it was still a troubling surgery nonetheless.

Parsons leaves in the third quarter vs. Warriors with right hamstring soreness. Dallas announces his injury is a torn meniscus in his right knee and he later undergoes arthroscopic surgery. He misses the rest of the season, and Dallas misses the playoffs.

Parsons signs four-year, $94 million max deal with Memphis, despite undergoing season-ending arthroscopic knee surgery fewer than four months earlier. Memphis beat out Portland for Parsons’ services, which led to this savage exchange between Parsons and C.J. McCollum on Twitter.

Dallas did not make much of an effort to retain Parsons, in large part due to concerns about his injury history.

The Grizzlies eased him along, allowing him to make his debut seven games into the regular season on a minutes restriction. Parsons played six games, but was then bothered again by his right knee. He missed one month of action before returning to the floor.

Parsons is out indefinitely after Grizzlies announce partial tear in the meniscus of his left knee.

Chandler Parsons plays 18 minutes against the Lakers. He had seen on-and-off play time on the team up until this point. He plays one game in the following two months and appears in nine games in March and April combined, averaging under six points per game to end the season.

SB Nation’s Memphis Grizzlies site Grizzly Bear Blues writes it’s time to breakup with Chandler Parsons, and they present a few viable trade options:

But most of the deals outlined are too good to be true, and that’s because Parsons is scheduled to make too much money for a player with this lengthy of an injury history. He has another year left on his contract after this one.

Parsons’ time with Memphis has been one of the most unfortunate tenures we’ve seen in recent history. You feel for the player whose career was cut short due to injury, but you question the franchise that gave him the money despite two knee surgeries.