Chandler Parsons finds change of scenery with trade from Memphis Grizzlies to Atlanta Hawks

Things haven't gone well for Chandler Parsons since signing a four-year, $94 million contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. The deal was signed in the summer of 2016 and, while many questionable contracts were inked during that free agent frenzy, Parsons struggled to stay on the floor and scuffled when he was healthy enough to play. In the end, Parsons will not be finishing his four-year pact in Memphis, however, as ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon bring word of a trade that will send him to the Atlanta Hawks. 

For both teams involved, the swap amounts to a salary exchange, as the Hawks create an extra roster spot in sending Solomon Hill (owed nearly $13 million) and Miles Plumlee (owed $12.5 million) to Memphis. Parsons, still vastly overpaid at more than $25 million for the 2019-20 season, does receive a change of scenery, though, and that could prove fruitful. 

It should be noted that ESPN's reporting indicates that a contract buyout, one that would make Parsons a free agent, "always remains a possibility," but the Hawks are reportedly "open to giving Parsons an opportunity to earn a role" during the last year of the contract. Given Atlanta's rebuilding nature, Parsons could be seen as expendable but, when healthy, he combines play-making with floor-spacing offensively, and Parsons is only 30 years old despite myriad knee issues. 

This wasn't supposed to be how things went for Parsons, who averaged 15.4 points and shot 38.5 percent from three in the four seasons prior to his arrival in Memphis. What's done is done, though, and he'll have the ability to catch on with a Hawks team that could use his talents and a franchise that employs a top-tier medical staff, headlined by former Warriors trainer Chelsea Lane.