According to a report, Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki has officially opted out of his contract ahead of free agency.
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The NBA Finals are officially over, the NBA Draft is just a few days away and free agency is a little over a week out. That means that speculation is about to run rampant in the NBA over the next couple of weeks about where the best players in the league will be going in free agency and there will be a ton of trade rumors to follow along with.
The speculation immediately began firing up, when Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury news reported that the Warriors would be interested in Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki.
While the thought of Nowitzki leaving Dallas seems crazy, it would give him another serious chance at winning a ring. To add even more fire to the speculation of Nowitzki possibly leaving, ESPN’s Marc Stein officially reported on Tuesday, that the forward has opted out of his deal, making him a free agent.
ESPN sources say that Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki officially opted out of his contract today and will indeed become a free agent July 1
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 21, 2016
Now, this doesn’t mean that he’s leaving Dallas at all. With the salary cap seeing a huge raise, he’s going to make sure that he gets paid his fair share, after he gave up some money on previous contracts to help the team. In the duration of his career with the Mavericks, Nowitzki has been the consummate professional and has earned the right to chase the money one more time.
At 38 years old, this is probably the final time he will have a chance to cash in on a contract and he’s going to make sure that he can get every cent he possibly can.
Whether that’s with the Mavericks or with the Warriors remains to be seen.
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