Atlanta Hawks 2019 Offseason Grades: The Chandler Parsons Trade

Our offseason grades series continues with one of the least-heralded moves of the offseason for the Atlanta Hawks: Trading for Chandler Parsons.

When the Atlanta Hawks traded for Chandler Parsons of the Memphis Grizzlies, there was honestly little to no reaction. During an offseason that had featured massive fireworks to start the summer segment of the NBA schedule during the 2019 NBA Draft, a two-for-one player swap for one of the worst contracts in the NBA was always going to swiftly fall under the radar.

The parameters of the deal were fairly simple:

The Hawks traded Solomon Hill, who had been previously acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans in the trade up to #4 overall, and Miles Plumlee for Parsons, who has one year left on his whopping 4-year/$94 million deal signed in the memorable summer of 2016.

Though this might not be the most enticing deal of the summer for the Atlanta Hawks, look at it this way: The Hawks traded away two heinous contracts for one heinous contract. Addition by subtraction, right?

Though Parsons will likely see some playing time at the small forward spot for the team, it seems fairly clear that he will be behind younger, better options at the three such as De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish and Jabari Parker. Even Two-Way signing Charlie Brown might make for a better option than Parsons.

Still though, if the Atlanta Hawks are indeed aiming to make the playoffs this season – as the rumblings have been in the late goings of the summer – then Parsons could serve as solid regular season bench depth.

Parsons might not be the 15 points per game scorer he was during his tenure with the Houston Rockets, which was his most successful stint in the NBA, his three-point shooting should still be fairly reliable as his 37.3 percent clip from deep on a 39.8 percent attempt rate should attest per Basketball Reference.

Grade: B

This deal was fairly inconsequential in the grand scheme of things for the Atlanta Hawks, but anytime you can trade two bad contracts for one expiring bad one, you’ve done something right – which is exactly what Hawks GM Travis Schlenk did with this deal.