There's an Untouchable Maverick not Named Dirk Nowitzki?

By Richie Whitt Wed., Feb. 10 2010 at 1:00 PM

Danny Bollinger

The Untouchable?

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is grumpy. Understandably so.

His team has lost 5 of 7 - punctuated by last night's embarrassing 36-point loss in Denver - heading into NBA All-Star Weekend right here in his own backyard. Cuban has apparently scrapped plans for an All-Star bash at his Dallas mansion, one at which the musical guest was to be none other than AC/DC.

Grumpy? Sure. But also maybe delusional?

What else could explain his "untouchable" tag on ...

Rodrigue Beaubois.

"I'm not going to trade Roddy,'' Cuban said before Monday night's win at Golden State. "There are maybe one or two guys in the league I'll trade him for. Other than that, he's pretty much untouchable.''

One or two? Really? I can think of, oh, 50 of the top of my head. You?

Granted, the rookie has shown flashes of brilliance. I'm impressed by his 3-point range and lightning first step. Not saying that Beaubois won't some day blossom into Leandro Barbosa or Devin Harris or Monta Ellis or even Tony Parker, but right now? Today? Untouchable?

I can also see Beaubois as part of a trade next summer for Chris Bosh (Erick Dampier, Beaubois, a No. 1 pick and $3 million oughta do the trick.)

But c'mon, surely you jest about untouchable.

The Mavs are fine. They're still one of the top three teams in the West. They will win 50 games and make the playoffs for the 11th consecutive season.

Trading for Andre Iguodala or Kevin Martin or Caron Butler or Chris Kaman may make some sense, but patience is the play here. Even Mark Cuban needs reminding of that every now and then.