The Dallas Mavericks pursuit of Carmelo Anthony appears to be dead in the water. This would mark the third marquee free agent Mark Cuban has missed out on after failing to sign Deron Williams and Dwight Howard in the past few offseasons. Anthony is likely headed to the Lakers, Knicks or Bulls, forcing the Mavericks to find a plan B instead. With Dirk Nowitzki locked down, who is the next big target for the Mavericks?
According to Sam Amick of USA Today Sports, Dallas will immediately shift their focus to Chandler Parsons if they fail to land Anthony. Currently a restricted free with the Houston Rockets, Parsons is finding that he is the backup plan for a lot of teams right now as everyone awaits the decisions from Anthony and others. The Mavericks are looking to be major players for the strong forward.
Parsons is not the big fish that Dallas was hoping to pull in this offseason, but he could be a very productive role player in the offense. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports that the Mavericks are preparing an offer sheet to place down immediately once they know the future of Anthony. The value of the offer is currently unclear, but the Dallas Morning News is predicting that Parsons could easily fetch upwards of $10 to $12 million on a long-term contract. Would that be enough to steal him away from the Rockets?
Currently waiting on pins and needles for Anthony's decision, Houston would ideally like to keep Parsons around regardless. Houston reluctantly made the forward a restricted free agent simply to clear cap space for a marquee player. However, if they do not get that player, the team will aim to bring Parsons back into the fold. However, money will remain an issue. If Houston fails to trade Jeremy Lin, they still have a tight salary cap meaning they might get out-bid for Parsons if the Mavericks through down that kind of money.
Is Parsons re-signs to Houston, Dallas goes to Plan C which appears to be Luol Deng. Several teams are very interested in Deng. The Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Lakers are aiming to meet with the forward as well so once again, the Mavericks will have competition. Along with Deng, Trevor Ariza is on Cuban's radar as well.
The Mavericks are in win-now mode. The clock is ticking for Nowitzki who would like to get one more championship ring before heading into retirement. He has reportedly taken a hometown discount in order for Dallas to land a big-named player this offseason. If they fail to do so, the veteran will not be happy.
