Mavs Notes: Parsons, Matthews, Evans

The potential for better floor spacing thanks to the moves the Mavs made this offseason intrigues Chandler Parsons, who nonetheless still rues the about–face DeAndre Jordan made after committing to the team, observes Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.

“I think I’ve earned the right to speak freely about the Mavs and our future. There was no way DJ was going to come unless I presented our pitch,” Parsons said to Charania. “It’s not like I was gassing him up and lying. Everything he was saying that he wanted, we were going to give to him. Everything: the opportunity to get the ball more, to be an MVP candidate, to be the man and take the next step in his career. It’s not like I was just making this [expletive] up. He’s still a friend. But when I saw him in Las Vegas for Team USA, all I could really say was, ‘Are you [expletive] serious?'”

Absent Jordan, Parsons is embracing the “opportunity to be the man and an All-Star” with the Mavericks as he makes his way back from knee surgery, and he won’t rule out making a rehab appearance with the team’s D-League affiliate, as he tells Charania for the same story. A D-League assignment is nonetheless unlikely, Parsons indicates. See more from Dallas:

• Wesley Matthews isn’t too upset with Jordan his reversal, perhaps unsurprisingly, since the total value of Matthews’ deal escalated from roughly $13MM a year to the max of about $17.5MM annually when Jordan reneged on his agreement. “He made his own decision and that was it,” Matthews said to Grantland’s Jonathan Abrams. “Am I mad that he changed his mind? No. The only thing that I have an issue with is, I’m reaching out [and] he just didn’t hit me back. If you’re like, ‘Hey, man, I feel this way,’ it’s fine. I’m not going to hold a gun to your head and say, ‘You can’t go.’ At the end of the day, we’ve got to make the best decision. If you thought it was here and realized it wasn’t, I can’t fault you for that.”
• The Suns were among the teams that showed interest in Matthews this summer, Abrams notes within his piece.
• The Mavericks like the versatility of Jeremy Evans, and he’s performed well so far in his initial preseason action for the team, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News chronicles. Evans signed a fully guaranteed two-year, minimum salary deal this summer. “It’s pretty clear he’s going to be one of our better defensive players with his activity and length,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s an above-the-rim kind of guy. He’s going to have to guard a lot of different positions.”
• Check out Mark Cuban’s idea for a supplemental draft that he detailed in a Hoops Rumors exclusive.