NBA Rumors: 5 reasons Dirk Nowitzki should sign with Cavaliers
By John Buhler
Dirk Nowitzki will probably hit NBA free agency for the final time in 2016. Here are five reasons he could choose the Cleveland Cavaliers over Golden State.
On Monday, San Jose Mercury-News columnist Tim Kawakami reported that the team he covers, the Golden State Warriors, were actively pursuing a supposedly untouchable player in 2016 NBA free agency: Dallas Mavericks future Hall of Fame stretch four Dirk Nowitzki.
Nowitzki has played his entire illustrious NBA career with the Mavericks since being traded by the Milwaukee Bucks to Dallas in the 1998 NBA Draft as the No. 9 overall selection. He’s one of the greatest players in NBA history and is still playing at a high level into his late 30s. There’s a great chance Nowitzki will only play for the Mavericks in his NBA career.
The problem is that by sticking with Dallas is that it will almost certainly cost Nowitzki a legitimate shot at another NBA Championship. While he carried the 2010-11 Mavericks to Dallas’ only NBA Championship to date, the Mavericks are stuck in the awful middle of the NBA’s hierarchy entering the 2016-17 NBA season: good enough to qualify for the NBA Playoffs, but lose in five or six games in the first round.
Given that the news is out in circulation, there is growing belief that Nowitzki is probably frustrated that he won’t be able to win another title with the Mavericks. A series of poor trades and a blatant lack of success in free agency has made Dallas into a 45-win also-ran basketball club in the twilight of Nowitzki’s historic NBA career.
While the Warriors would absolutely love to pry Nowitzki away from Dallas in their efforts to bounce back from losing Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, perhaps there is one other team that the German seven-footer should seriously consider in 2016 NBA free agency: the 2016 NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Here are five reasons that it’s not insane for Nowitzki to leave Dallas and sign one last contract with the Cavaliers.
Next: 5. Winning with house money in Cleveland.