Mavs Re-Sign Dirk Nowitzki

JULY 15TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release, and it’s for less than previously reported so that Dallas could accommodate its deal for Chandler Parsons, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It’s a three-year, $25MM contract, Stein tweets. Nowitzki turned down max offers from the Rockets and the Lakers to remain with the Mavs, Stein reports (on Twitter).

JULY 3RD: 3:52pm: The deal includes a player option after the second season and a no-trade clause, Stein writes in his full story.

NBA: Playoffs-San Antonio Spurs at Dallas Mavericks3:33pm: The Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki have come to terms on a three-year deal, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). No free agent has seemed more certain to re-sign with his team than Nowitzki, with only the length of the contract and the financial terms in any doubt. The value of the deal is believed to be around $30MM, Stein adds via Twitter.

Nowitzki and the team had agreed to hold off on finalizing a deal until after the club’s Wednesday meeting with Carmelo Anthony so as to retain maximum cap flexibility, but with ‘Melo’s visit through, the team has locked up its own star. It’s not clear whether the deal is an indication that the team is more or less likely to sign ‘Melo than it had been before the meeting, but the terms of Nowitzki’s agreement fall in line with what Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com suggested he would likely end up with.

The money is a steep decline from Nowitzki’s salary of more than $22.7MM this past season, and he could have signed a deal worth as much as nearly $23.9MM for next season alone. The 36-year-old’s age is the chief reason he’ll wind up with less, but his loyalty to the Mavs also comes into play. Dallas has been attempting to find another star to go alongside Nowitzki in recent years, and that will be easier now that Nowitzki won’t be making nearly as much.

Nowitzki made the All-Star game this past season, and his performance this year justified the selection, as the 7-footer averaged 21.7 points and 6.2 rebounds with 39.8% three-point shooting and a 23.6 PER. He spoke in May of wanting the club to respect his continued ability when it put together his deal, even as he acknowledged there was no realistic chance he’d sign elsewhere. To that end, it appears he’ll continue to make an eight-figure salary, or close to it, as he nears age 40.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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