The Dallas Mavericks have reached an agreement on a new 2-year contract with Dirk Nowitzki one that will allow him to earn $40 million over the next two seasons and play until the age of 40. Nowitzki has spent his entire 18-year career with the franchise and with this new deal it is likely he will finish his career in Dallas.
The signing of Nowitzki is a small victory for the Mavs who have had a rough go at free agency this summer. Dallas whiffed on luring Hassan Whiteside from the Miami Heat and Mike Conley away from the Memphis Grizzlies but the signings of Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut away from Golden State, couples with the re-signing of Nowitzki, has helped turn around Dallas’ fortunes.
The second year of Nowitzki’s new deal is likely to be a player option which is in line with what Nowitzki has said is his desire. Although he has said numerous times that he would like to play two more seasons, Nowitzki also made it clear he wants to re-evaluate things at the end of the 2016-17 season. The player option allows him to decide if he wants to keep playing or not at that very point in time.
The Mavericks have always treated Nowitzki well and things have not changed as the former MVP, Finals MVP and NBA Champion gets closer to the end of his career.
“Dirk gets to do what Dirk wants,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said in June. “Period. End of story.
“I told him the other day: If Dirk wants to be the head coach, we’ll move Rick [Carlisle] over a little bit. Dirk’s done so much for this franchise, he’s earned that opportunity.”
Nowitzki’s previous contract was a three-year, $25 million deal and considered to be a great hometown deal for the franchise.
If Nowitzki does end up playing two more seasons in Dallas and then calling it career, he would join Kobe Bryant as the only players in NBA history to spend their entire two-decade career with only one franchise.
