It looks like Vince Carter is not going back to Toronto like some hoped, but he will be leaving Dallas and heading east.
After Lebron James made his decision to go home to Cleveland, it had an effect all through out the NBA. Especially among teams who thought they had a chance to land Lebron, like the Houston Rockets.
The Rockets, like everyone else, knew that if James decided to stay in Miami, it would have gone far in determining what Chris Bosh was going to do, also. Since James' decision 2.0, it has become much more likely that Bosh would be a Rocket next year, but Houston still has to rearrange some money to make that happen.
According to multiple sources, making that room included dealing Jeremy Lin to the Lakers on Friday, and Omer Asik to the Pelicans weeks ago. These are all deals the Rockets intended. Unfortunately there were some unintended consequences, too.
Soon after they offered Bosh a deal, the Dallas Mavericks went after Chandler Parsons on Houston's squad, and he signed with them, giving Houston three days to match the offer. Sources told ESPN that Carter was finalizing a three-year, $12.2 million contract Friday night to join the Memphis Grizzlies, who have coveted him for some time.
More fallout from all the free agent moves it seems, the Mavericks were hoping to keep Carter but didn't have the financial flexibility to pay him the sort of money Memphis offered, after they made the deal with Parsons.
This deal is especially costly to Dallas who liked Carter on the court, but especially valued his mature, veteran locker room presence.
For the Grizzlies, this deal was important because Mike Miller decided to follow James to Cleveland.
Carter was a 40.7 percent shooter last year, averaging 10 points per game.
Carter was selected with the fifth-overall pick in the first round of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors, His rights were traded to the Toronto Raptors in a deal that sent his former college teammate, forward Antawn Jamison, to the Golden State Warriors. Carter has also played for the Brooklyn (New Jersey) Nets, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns and has spent the last three seasons with the Mavericks.
