Despite the hype surrounding a lot of high picks from this year’s NBA Draft the man who seems to have been making the biggest impact in Summer League action has been Rodrigue Beaubois, taken 25th by the Dallas Mavericks and thought even then to be a bit of a reach.
The Frenchman, born in Guadeloupe, did provoke some comparisons with his compatriot Tony Parker, and the early results would suggest those comparisons might just be accurate.
Although the Mavericks team has only gone 1-4, Beaubois has impressed in averaging 17 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists on good shooting percentages as well.
The best overall performance was the most recent and last of the Vegas League (Sunday) when Beaubois ended when he hit 9-of-12 shots for 23 points and dished out five assists, the sort of line you would expect from Parker, a player he seems to have modelled his game on.
Beaubois did score 34 against Houston as well but that came in one of those games when even less defense than usual was played – however seven of his shots were hit from three-point range, and a deep threat is something Dallas could really do with off the bench this season.
Beaubois has already calmed fears of going back to Europe, where he played in France for Cholet, by signing his rookie deal, and in Dallas he is in the perfect situation to learn the intricacies of the NBA.
With Jason Kidd re-signed to lead the offense for at least a couple more years Beaubois is under no pressure to perform straight away, although he may find himself earning some playing time if he continues to impress as he did in Vegas,
Basketball betting suggests that he will likely start 2009/10 as third string point guard after the fine impact Jose Juan Barea made last year, and working on his somewhat raw defense with those two will be the key in deciding his long-term future, be it in Dallas or elsewhere, although based on his summer showings, Mavs fans will hope it is the former.
