The Dallas Mavericks did not agree to a four-year deal with Wesley Matthews worth well over $50 million with the expectation that he would be ready for the start of the regular season.

Matthews tore his left Achilles tendon less than four months ago, an injury suffered in an early March game against the Mavs. The shooting guard known as “Iron Man” is considered to be well ahead of schedule and is determined to play in the Mavs’ season opener.

However, owner Mark Cuban is preaching caution, emphasizing that the Mavs recruited Matthews with long-term goals in mind.

“We’re not putting a timetable on it,” Cuban said Friday on 1310 The Ticket. “Like I told Wes, if he opens up with camp, great. If he starts the season, great. If he misses 30 games, great. I don’t care because we didn’t sign him for this year.

“We signed him because having Chandler [Parsons], having DeAndre [Jordan] and having Wes Matthews, that’s a great young core. And so the goal isn’t to try to rush them: ‘Oh my goodness, we might miss something.’ It’s really to get them all healthy, which we know we can, and have them playing together and be something special for a lot of years as opposed to being worrying about the first 30 games of this season.”

Parsons is recovering from a serious surgery that repaired cartilage damage in his right knee, an injury that caused him to miss all but the first game of Dallas’ first-round playoff loss to the Houston Rockets.

Parsons also is progressing well in rehab and has said that he considers playing in the season opener to be a realistic goal. He rehabbed with Matthews recently while in Los Angeles to recruit the Mavs’ two prized free-agent additions.

Cuban, who considers the Mavs’ medical staff led by athletic trainer Casey Smith and team physician T.O. Souryal to be the best in the league, understands how important it is for Matthews to not miss any more time due to his Achilles tendon.

“He swears up and down that he’s not,” Cuban said, “but we’re not going to rush him regardless of what he thinks.”