LAS VEGAS -- The Dallas Mavericks will be better off in the immediate future because they missed out on Dwight Howard, allowing them to sign several other free agents, owner Mark Cuban said.

"I think we've put ourselves in a spot where we're in a better spot than we were at if we got just the one max-out deal," Cuban told ESPNDallas.com during the Mavs' summer league game Wednesday night. "I think it'd be better shorter and longer term. I don't want to make that sound the wrong way. I think we'll be better this year because we added five good players or more."

Cuban made similar comments last summer, when point guard Deron Williams decided to re-sign with the Brooklyn Nets after the Mavs had recruited him. Dallas went 41-41 in 2012-13 with a roster made up primarily of additions on one-year deals, ending the franchise's 12-year playoff streak.

The Mavs were one of five teams to meet in Los Angeles with Howard -- Dallas' admitted Plan A this summer -- before the perennial All-Star center decided to sign with the Houston Rockets. The Mavs would have had to make at least one significant roster adjustment, likely trading Shawn Marion or Vince Carter, to carve out the salary-cap space necessary to sign Howard to a four-year, $87.6 million contract.