Speaking to Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on ‘All the Smoke’ podcast, former Rockets swingman Chandler Parsons revealed how he was able to secure a max contract from the Mavericks just a few years into his career.
Apparently, his former agent, Dan Fegan, used Dwight Howard as leverage in a meeting with his original team (the Rockets).
“The signing of Dwight Howard was nuts. Dwight, we had the same agent. I was a second-round pick and had a 4-year deal but the fourth year was a team option. At this point I’m starting, I’m averaging like 17, I’m going. And my agent said ‘they’re gonna pick up the fourth year why wouldn’t they? You’re owed like $920,000 which is a huge bargain for them. I end up hiring Dan Fagen, the only reason because he said ‘I can get you out of that fourth year.’ And no one else could. How he did it is he basically used leverage. He went to the GM, he went to the owners and said ‘I’ll get you Dwight Howard, but you’re not picking up Parsons’ contract. So instead of getting paid $920k I got bumped to a max and we got Dwight Howard. Agents get you paid but Dan Fagan got you overpaid.”
From 2012 to 2014, Parsons was an important contributor to the Rockets and a highly coveted wing player. In his last year in Houston, he averaged 16.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game on 47% shooting.
Unfortunately, his tenure with Harden and Howard would not last long. Since the Rockets were convinced to drop the team option, Parsons became an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2014 and signed with the Mavericks for over $98 million.
It was an incredible feat by Fagen, especially since Parsons never saw that kind of money again. After a series of devastating injuries, his career took a turn for the worst and he hasn’t played a game since the 2019-20 season.
