The Dallas Mavericks are finalizing a two-year, $10 million deal with talisman Dirk Nowitzki, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. The deal is set-up to include a second year team-option.
Nowitzki and the team mutually agreed to opt out of his prior contract late last month, hoping he could be signed to a franchise-friendly deal that would allow the organization to sign free agents.
The 7-foot German skipped on his $25-million second season of his prior two-year deal, opting to aim for a one-and-one scenario in order to give the Mavs some flexibility with this rich free agent market.
Nowitzki has been vocal about entering his 20th season in 2017-18, but will once again go back to the drawing board the next offseason and decide if he still wants to play or needs to call it a career.
“When I signed on to finish my career here, I also signed on for the possibility that we could have a rough year, we might have to play a bunch of young guys,” Nowitzki told Eddie Sefko of the Dallas News. “And it's been fun. Playing with young guys can be challenging and (hard to) keep your patience. But it also brings big joy when you see them succeed. That's a rush.”
“At the end of the day, I just saw myself being with this franchise for so long that whatever this franchise is going through, I want to be right there to push through.”
Dallas, which is in process of a rebuild, is intent on bringing back center Nerlens Noel, who has proved to be a defensive enforcer in his short stint with the franchise.
Noel wants to get market value for his services, but with the market being relatively thin for big men as these last few days have shown — it's more realistic the Mavs will offer around $18-20 million per year for the Kentucky product, per Sefko.
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