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Rodrigue Beaubois burst onto the scene for the Dallas Mavericks during his rookie season, quickly becoming a fan favorite. His electrifying playing style, combining explosive athleticism with a smooth shooting stroke, made waves throughout the league and had the Mavericks drooling over the prospect of stumbling onto an emerging star.
Coach Rick Carlisle opted not to play Beaubois during the playoff series that year against the San Antonio Spurs until nearly the second half of a blowout in which the Spurs were about to take the series. Even though the Mavericks ended up losing, they came back from a 19-point deficit and closed the gap to two points.
The fact that the Spurs were able to put the game away with Beaubois on the bench in the fourth quarter only added fuel to the fire.
Then he broke his foot practicing for the French national team. With that one event, he went from being “untouchable” for trade offers, according to Mark Cuban, to being an unspectacular role player. He repeatedly suffered from injuries, re-injuring his fractured foot as well as his other foot and his hand.
The injuries were not the whole story though. After being so injury-prone, the formerly explosive athlete lost some of his athleticism. His confidence disappeared. For some reason, his shooting ability almost entirely vanished. After hitting threes at a clip of over 40 percent in his rookie year, the highest percentage he could hit during his next three years was a pedestrian 30 percent.
Fans held out hope for awhile that Roddy could regain his rookie form, but after three disappointing years, it was clear that it was time to move on. His time with the Mavericks is clearly over with rookie Shane Larkin donning Roddy’s old no. 3 on his jersey, but it is unclear whether there is any interest from other teams in the free agent.
