Chandler Parsons said he was ready to recruit free agent to the Mavericks.
Unless Parsons has gone rogue, Dallas hopes to poach another Rocket – Patrick Beverley.
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:With Pat Beverley heading into free agency, the Rockets point guard said he is already seeing the renowned recruiting talents of former teammate Chandler Parsons first hand.
“I hear from Chandler every day,” Beverley said. “It’s hard, but I try not to think about it. I can’t talk about contracts. It’s going to be a fun summer. I have put myself in a position to be set for life and that’s something that I never thought was possible growing up.”
Beverley would be an excellent fit with the Mavericks.
The Rockets exposed Dallas’ defensive holes in the playoffs, and Beverley would at least fill one. As the Rajon Rondo experiment and subsequent success showed, Rick Carlisle’s system works better with a point guard who can make 3s and doesn’t dominate the ball. That’s Beverley.
How much money would the Mavericks offer Beverley, who will be a restricted free agent?
Al-Farouq Aminu will definitely opt out, and last check had Monta Ellis doing the same. Let’s assume they both do. Let’s also assume Dallas renounces all its free agents and waives Dwight Powell, who has an unguaranteed salary.
Using data from Basketball Insiders, the Mavericks would project to have about $30.9 million in cap space.
A max contract for DeAndre Jordan (who’s reportedly interested in Dallas) or LaMarcus Aldridge would start at about $19 million. With or without one of those top free agents, Dallas would lose cap space by re-signing any of its own free agents like Ellis, Aminu and/or Tyson Chandler.
The Mavericks have room to chase Beverley. It just limits their flexibility elsewhere.
Dallas probably must offer more than $10 million per season to convince Houston not to match.
Because Beverley has been in the league three seasons, the Gilbert Arenas Provision does not apply. A team can sign him to an offer sheet worth up to a max contract, and it can’t balloon like the Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin deals.
The Rockets definitely value Beverley. But as the Parsons saga showed last year, they might place more value in the flexibility to chase a third star to complement James Harden and Dwight Howard.
I hope Dallas chases Beverley – to see how he’d fit in the Mavericks’ system, to see how Houston would build its roster and to see one more Mark Cuban-Daryl Morey clash.