Explaining the Charlie Villanueva signing for the Dallas Mavericks

In the Five Out on Monday, we brought you the news that veteran forward Charlie Villanueva was deciding on whether to join the Clippers on Mavericks. Later that day, the Mavericks signed Villanueva with an non guaranteed contract.

Villanueva was an unrestricted free agent this summer coming off a five-year, $37-million contract with the Pistons. He documented his free agency with an eight part vlog series titled "Crossroads." No, really. I'm not making that up.

The signing of Villanueva is a risk-free move on the part of the Mavericks. Since his contract isn't guaranteed, they will not owe him any money if they cut him. Essentially, this is a training camp invite with a possibility for more.

What Villanueva brings to the table is his ability to stretch the floor. He is a career 34.3 percent 3-point shooter but that number dramatically declined last season. In just 20 games, Villanueva connected on just 25 percent of his 3-point attempts. His scoring average also declined each year with the Pistons.

Injury is also a concern. In the past three seasons Villanueva has played in just 102 games out of a possible 230.

These factors led Villanueva to never quite live up to the contract he signed with Detroit and saw him fall out of favor in the Motor City.

The odds are stacked against Villanueva making the roster. Dallas already has 15 players with guaranteed contracts and Ivan Johnson and Eric Griffin have partially guaranteed contracts with the team. Villanueva is on the outside looking in and he may be looking to join another team before the season begins.