Cuban: Mavs 'Won't Trade Untouchable Roddy'

     "I'm not going to trade’’ Roddy Beaubois, announced Mavs owner Mark Cuban before Monday’s Dallas-at-Warriors meeting." There are maybe one or two guys in the league I'll trade him for. Other than that, he's pretty much untouchable.’’  

   Hmm. Where shall we start here?

   *Shall we start with Cuban’s understandable respect for the sky-high future of “French Cuffs’’?

   *Shall we start with what seems to me to be a veiled attempt at negotiation-table posturing?

   *Shall we start with the audaciousness of Tony Cubes, who maybe achieves an all-time high in issuing a ranking of NBA talent: LeBron, then Kobe, then Roddy?

    Or should we take this just a little seriously and list the three dozen NBA players who Dallas would happily acquire if the cost was nothing more than Roddy Beaubois?

   Cuban’s understandable respect for the sky-high future of “French Cuffs’’

    The Mavs thought this on Draft Day and the rookie from Guadeloupe has backed it up: They projected he was going to develop into at least another Leandro Barbosa, and maybe-just-maybe another Devin Harris and dare-they-dream maybe-just-double-maybe Tony Parker.

    They still think that.

     Trade Roddy and you face the prospects of having to oppose a Tony Parkeresque player who you once employed … for the next decade.

     Trade Roddy and you face the prospects of being remembered as the team that in one “era,’’ if you will, had and lost point guards Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Devin Harris and Roddy Beaubois. That’s a lot of Hall of Fame/MVP/All-Star Game-caliber talent to be pissing away, all at one critical position.

     But …

    A veiled attempt at negotiation-table posturing

      While Rodrigue Beaubois is obviously the point guard of the future around here, and while he has also been recently elevated to a middle-of-the-rotation guy, let’s not pretend the Mavs aren’t at least considering a “the-future-is-now’’ approach.

     Just for kicks, I’ll say this in the most inflammatory way possible for fans of The Dirk Nowitzki Era: Shouldn’t the Mavs contemplate using the tools they have to help Dirk now … as opposed to trying to make sure they have a point guard for the years following the retirement of KIDDIRK?

     And speaking of the “now’’: In the two games previous to the Golden State game before which Cuban issued his State of the Roddy Address, Beaubois had played and played well. He had his best game of the season on Feb. 5 when he scored a career-high 17 points in a season-high-tying 24 minutes. He was on the floor in crunch time in that game, and over his last two outings, Beaubois is averaging 12.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 24 minutes while shooting 53.3 percent.

    And, he plays defense.

     Then came the Golden State game. Against arguably the worst team in the West, in an uptempo game, Roddy participated in 109 seconds of action.

    French Cuffs is promising, good and important. But if he’s not important enough to even earn a full two minutes of burn. … while at the same time your trade talks with teams feature the Sixers and the Wizards and the Kings mentioning acquiring someone of your roster who actually has talent. …

     What you do is, you listen.

     While at the same time trying to play Poker by coolly uttering words like “untouchable.’’

    The audaciousness of Tony Cubes and his ranking of NBA talent: LeBron, then Kobe, then Roddy

    Mark Cuban, finishing his quote: “It'd have to be an incredible player. That's how highly we think of (Roddy)."

    Obviously, that is not just posturing; it goes beyond that, to hyperbolic. (Though maybe “We Love Our Boys In Blue’’ is truly taken a blinding hold on Mavs management.)

    Will any of Dallas’ negotiating partners be fooled by that? Or even swayed by it?

    I am not advocating Dallas make Roddy Beaubois a “throw-in.’’ I am not even advocating that, ultimately, when decision time arrives at 2 p.m. on Feb. 18, his name be included in a deal at all. How can we advocate that when we don’t know what the offer is?

    And, logically, how can Mark Cuban definitively know what he’ll do with Roddy when he doesn’t know what the offer will be, either?

   So the Mavs announce that “There are maybe one or two guys in the league they’d trade him for’’ and that “other than that, Roddy's pretty much untouchable’’?

    I can pinpoint the two names Cuban is likely referencing. LeBron and Kobe.

    I can also come up with a few more he’s forgetting.

    Ready?

    I’ll simply this by eliminating other rookies (though you’d trade Roddy right now for Tyreke Evans, right?). … and I’ll list the guys you would trade Roddy straight-up for in four categories:

    1A Random Pile of Names: Kevin Garnett, Josh Smith, Danny Granger, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, Al Horford, Andrea Bargnani, Andrew Bogut, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan, Carlos Boozer, Pau Gasol, Kevin Durant, Trevor Ariza, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Gerald Wallace, O. J. Mayo, Paul Pierce, LaMarcus Aldridge, Chauncey Billups, Brandon Roy, Amar'e Stoudemire, Andrew Bynum, Marc Gasol, Al Jefferson.

    2The Guys Roddy Might Become: The logic here: Why wait for Beaubois to “become’’ Tony Parker if you could just acquire the still-young finished product? Tony Parker, Rajon Rondo, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, Monta Ellis, Devin Harris, Chris Paul.

    3 The Guys You Are In Discussions Regarding Now Anyway: Think about it: Assume the Mavs are pondering giving up Josh Howard AND Drew Gooden AND Roddy for a second-banana acquisition. If the present consideration is to give up three guys (and two contracts), why wouldn’t you give up one guy to do the same deal? Therefore: Andre Iguodala, Kevin Martin, Caron Butler, Chris Kaman.

    4 The Guys You’re Shooting For In The Summer of 2010: After Tim MacMahon got this “get,’’ we exchanged quick thoughts via Twitter. And Tim (espn_macmahon) added another nugget after I suggested that this is posturing talk:  

    @fishsports Maybe, but Cuban did acknowledge possibility that Roddy B could be part of sign-and-trade summer blockbuster.

     Good stuff. But ...

      If Dallas WOULD trade Roddy LATER for a big shot … why is Cuban saying Dallas WOULDN’T trade Roddy NOW for a big shot?

    So -- while it's not happening, of course -- add to the Pretend List of People I'd Trade Roddy For, of course, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Joe Johnson.

    Taking Cuban (far too) literally, I come up with 40 guys I’d trade Roddy Beaubois for, straight up, no debate, yesterday. Forty.

    An important note: The Mavs might legitimately argue that Roddy Beaubois in on the cusp of being at good as, say, Caron Butler. … while, at the same time, believing that the team isn’t close enough to the cusp of a championship too shoot its deadline wad. I can support that position. Those two angles might be enough to crush a Butler trade.

    But valuing Roddy to the point that he’s “untouchable’’? It’s a good story and a good try, but I’m not buying it … though I hope Dallas’ potential trade partners are.