Amid speculation that the Mavericks will attempt to clean house to clear cap space this summer, owner Mark Cuban tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas that Rodrigue Beaubois remains in the team's long-term plans.
With their sights set on offering a max deal to at least one free agent, such as Dwight Howard or Deron Williams, the Mavericks have made recent roster moves with an eye on their 2012/13 cap figure. Jason Kidd and Jason Terry are among the veterans on expiring contracts, while Shawn Marion is a trade candidate and Brendan Haywood is a candidate to be amnestied.
Beaubois, the Mavs' first-round pick in 2009, is averaging career lows in FG% (.409) and points per 36 minutes (14.6), and hasn't played in the team's last two games. Cuban suggests that Beaubois' in-game development isn't a priority for a team looking to defend its title.
"That’s what practice is for," Cuban said. "That’s why you come in and work on your game. If you want a deep team, that’s part of the price, but he’s part of our long-term plans, so there’s no rush. He’ll get plenty of minutes."
Beaubois' $2.23MM salary in 2012/13 certainly doesn't represent a huge cap hit. However, if the Mavericks hope to bid on both Howard and Williams with Dirk Nowitzki and his $20.91MM salary already on board, they figure to try to clear as many contracts as they can this summer.
When Jesse Blanchard assessed the Mavericks' stocks yesterday, he dubbed Beaubois the team's "lone intriguing young talent."
Honestly Deron doesn’t deserve a max contract and if he doesn’t want any less, just sign Nash and build a franchise around Howard after Dirk & Nash retire and to be honest most of the superstar pgs will have expiring contracts by the time Dirk & Nash retire so it works out all in the end.