DALLAS - Although the summer signing of sharpshooter Seth Curry wasn’t the Dallas Mavericks’ most heralded move of the offseason, team owner Mark Cuban says it could prove to be highly beneficial this upcoming season.Making 44 appearances with the Sacramento Kings last season, Curry averaged 6.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 15.7 minutes per outing during his most extensive action in the NBA. Curry increased that productive during his nine starts for the Kings, upping his averages to 14.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 29.9 minutes when featured in the first unit. He also showcased an ability to be a knockdown shooter, connecting on 45.5 percent from the field, 45.0 percent from three-point range and 83.3 percent from the foul line. With that said, it’s Curry’s ability to stretch the floor that Cuban sees making a big impact on the Dallas offense this season while lightening the load on 13-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki.”You know, on a dysfunctional team in Sacramento last year at the end of the year, [Curry] played team ball,” Cuban explained in a recent interview with 103.3 FM ESPN. “He struggled some to stick within a dysfunctional system, but when he got the minutes and when he started, he put up great numbers. But more importantly, from a catch-and-shoot perspective, he’s almost automatic from three. And we really didn’t have that. We didn’t have that guy where situationally you just knew, if you can get him open, he was going to hit that open three. And we missed that 42- or 43-percent three-point shooter. We just didn’t have it, and so we think we have that with Seth. I think it will make life a little bit easier with Dirk. You know, it will allow us to push the ball a little bit more, and I think it will make everybody’s life a little bit easier.”Last season, the Mavericks shot just 34.4 percent as a team from three-point range, ranking 23rd in the league in that department. The short-handed Mavs then saw that number drop to just 29 percent during their first-round playoff series against Oklahoma City after injuries to Chandler Parsons and Deron Williams forced them out of the lineup. And with Parsons departing for Memphis this summer in free agency and taking with him a team-best 41.4 percent shooting from three-point range, the Mavericks will definitely have a big hole to fill.
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