C.J. McCollum, Chandler Parsons trade barbs on Twitter

Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum and Memphis Grizzlies forward Chandler Parsons exchanged barbs on Twitter on Friday night, including McCollum telling Parsons that his team "hit the lottery by not signing you."

The social media feud started with a tweet from the Trail Blazers' official account, which posted a video of Parsons shooting an air ball on a 3-point attempt during the Trail Blazers' 112-109 victory Friday in Portland.

Parsons, evidently seeing the tweet after the game, replied with a shot of his own:

The Trail Blazers improved to 21-27 with Friday's victory but still trail the Denver Nuggets (20-25) by a half-game for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.

McCollum responded by taking his own shot at the Memphis forward, who has struggled with injuries and inconsistent play after signing a lucrative offseason contract with the Grizzlies.

Parsons signed a four-year, $94.4 million deal with the Grizzlies in July but has appeared in just 20 of Memphis' 48 games this season because of knee injuries. He is averaging career lows of 6.7 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

He looked to get in the last word, however, with his response to McCollum.

McCollum also received a lucrative payday during the offseason, signing a four-year, $106.6 million extension that begins next season. He has rewarded Portland with 23.4 points per game and ranks tied for 14th in the NBA in scoring.

"We give our social media staff pretty strict guidelines, so they operate knowing what is appropriate and what isn't," Blazers president and CEO Chris McGowan told ESPN on Saturday. "This one was meant to be lighthearted and fun but was probably a little too close to the line we try to keep on mediums like Twitter. It's a learning lesson for us and we will be more mindful going forward.

"Our official account is meant to be fun and positive. It's not our intention to cause things to turn negative. In this case it did, and that is what we want to avoid going forward."

Parsons replied to McGowan's comments on Twitter a short time later.

Friday's contest was the final regular-season meeting between the Trail Blazers and Grizzlies in 2016-17.

ESPN's Chris Haynes contributed to this report.