Report: Dirk Nowitzki to opt out of Mavericks contract
By John Buhler
Dallas Mavericks superstar power forward Dirk Nowitzki plans to opt out of the final deal of his contract with Dallas to become a free agent this summer.
According to Dwain Price of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki will opt out of the final year of his three-year contract with the Mavericks to become an unrestricted free agent in summer 2016.
By opting out of the final year of his three-year deal, Nowitzki would forgo the $8.7 million he was set to make in the 2016-17 NBA season with Dallas. Price believes that Nowitzki will probably re-up with Dallas on a two-year deal with a player option in the second season. This would absolutely help the Mavericks try to build another championship-caliber team around Nowitzki before he eventually does call it a career.
Nowitzki is without hesitation the best player in Mavericks franchise history. He’s solidified himself as one of the 50 greatest players to play in the NBA and could very well be the best international player of his era, possibly ever.
Since Nowitzki has spent all 18 of his NBA seasons since being drafted by the Mavericks No. 9 overall in the 1999 NBA Draft, Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson equated him to the some of the other Hall of Fame players starring in the Dallas-Fort Worth era.
Nelson said, “There is not a player that I’ve been around that has his kind of winning software. He’s our Roger Staubach, our Troy Aikman, our Mike Modano, Nolan Ryan. That’s who he is, so he deserves the courtesy of the first sit down.”
The thought of seeing Nowitzki playing for anybody other than the Mavericks just doesn’t seem possible. He’s earned the right to close out his career with the Mavericks on his terms. While he is in the back-end of his 30s and therefore his prime as an All-Star caliber player, expect Nowitzki to restructure one final two-year contract with a player option with the Mavericks in 2016 NBA free agency.
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