Mavs’ Dirk Nowitzki wants to stay in Dallas, takes shot at Kobe’s deal
By Mike Dyce
Dallas Mavericks power forward and superstar Dirk Nowitzki is headed towards free agency, but he is committed to remaining with the team and pursuing another run at a title. Nowitzki said he’d begin discussing it with owner Mark Cuban soon.
“I still think I’m going to play a couple more years at a high level. And we’ll just have to wait and see, meet with Mark a bunch,” Nowitzki said, via the Dallas Morning News. “I’m not going anywhere for a while. So we’ll figure some stuff out the next couple weeks.”
Nowitzki suggested he’d be willing to take a smaller deal to give the Mavericks flexibility in free agency to bring in players to help them compete for a championship. In doing so though he took a shot at Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant and his mammoth two-year $48 million extension.
“We want to get better as a team,” Nowitzki said. “And I’m pretty sure I’m not going to sign Kobe’s deal – unfortunately.
“We’ll find a good way where I feel respected for what I did and we still have enough money left for us to get great players in here. Cubes has been great to me and been loyal to me for a long, long time. I’m sure we’re going to find a great solution for everybody.”