Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki says he plans to return for 20th season
The future Hall of Famer fully intends to complete his two-year deal with Dallas
•
2 min read
Dallas Mavericks big man Dirk Nowitzki told ESPN’s Marc Stein on the TrueHoop Conversations podcast that he plans to return next year for his 20th season in the NBA. Nowitzki, who will turn 39 in June, missed a significant portion of this season because of a strained Achilles, and has transitioned to playing most of his minutes at center rather than power forward.
Speaking to ESPN’s Marc Stein on the TrueHoop Conversations podcast about whether his return for the 2017-18 season can be considered a lock, Nowitzki said: “I think so ... unless something drastic changes here in the next few weeks or the last few weeks of the season, which I don’t anticipate.
“I said last summer: I signed a two-year deal, [and] that obviously meant I want to play for two more,” Nowitzki continued. “I want to complete that deal.”
…
“Twenty is a great number,” Nowitzki told Stein. “I think 20 seasons also with one team, like I’m trying to do it -- I think only Kobe has done it -- that’s another great accomplishment. So I kinda want to make the 20 fold. Plus that summer I’m turning 40. I think that’s also a good number to be in the league ... from 20 to 40. That’s what I’m looking at.
“’Hopefully I’ll finish this season out strong, and then have a decent year, hopefully not as [many] injuries next year.”
Regardless of how many seasons he plays, Nowitzki is a future Hall of Famer and will go down as the best player in Mavericks history. He has been with the franchise for his entire career, and, as Mavs owner Mark Cuban said last summer, “Dirk and Dallas, Dallas and Dirk, they’re synonymous.”
If Nowitzki is coming back, the real question is what kind of team Cuban and the front office will be able to put around him. Dallas did well to acquire Nerlens Noel from the Philadelphia 76ers at the trade deadline, but he could have a high price tag in free agency in July. The Mavs are 12th in the West and three games behind the eighth-place Denver Nuggets with 21 games to go, so they will likely miss the postseason for just the second time since Nowitzki’s second season in the league. Dallas’ front office has placed a greater emphasis on developing young players recently, and it’ll be interesting to see how it approaches free agency. Nowitzki has a $25 million team option, but the Mavs could decline it and pay him less in order to sign somebody and make the team more competitive in his final season.
