7:42pm: The Mavericks have officially re-signed Nowitzki, the team announced today in a press release.
1:15pm: The Mavericks are finalizing a two-year, $10MM deal with Dirk Nowitzki, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. The second season will be a team option, so Nowitzki could be a free agent again next summer.
That marks a serious reduction for Nowitzki, who could have made $25MM next season if the Mavericks hadn’t declined his option, but owner Mark Cuban seems likely to make up for it at some point. Nowitzki has been with the franchise for 19 seasons and has shown a willingness to be flexible with his contract to help the team create cap space.
Dallas has $45MM in combined cap holds for Nowitzki and Nerlens Noel, so this new deal should give the team some flexibility.
Nowitzki was slowed by an early-season Achilles injury this year, but returned to average 14.2 points and 6.5 rebounds in 54 games. He turned 39 last month, but hasn’t given any indication that retirement is near.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Taking that Tim Duncan money…cmon man. At this point, the next CBA should have a thing that if you’ve spent at least 15 years with a franchise, you’re salary only partially effects the cap. It’s ridiculous that guys have to not get paid to stay on their team
Love that idea. I’d go as far as saying that it shouldn’t count against the cap at all
That autocorrect was brutal there lol
That’s an awesome idea really. The league is all about keeping the Stars in one town, I think this could potentially help
have it like they do with the veterans minimum, where only so much counts towards the cap. Only the MLE counts against the cap if you’ve spent 10+ years with you team, but if you’re traded then the new team has to count the full salary.
Great idea.
Genius idea!
This really is a great idea.
Dirk is a damn saint
Someone give him another ring! Damn he deserves it…. but with all the other super teams, taking less money to get a team around you seems like a waste when all the good players already playing together
Dirk keeps taking discounts for no reason. It’s been 6 years since they won the Finals and they haven’t even been close since. He basically is taking another pay cut even though there’s not anyone else left to pay for their lottery bound team
The Mavs just traded for some scrub from Miami in a salary dump. He will make $6M a year while Dirk makes $5M. Makes zero sense why most of the money didn’t go to Dirk
Dirk has figured he has made enough money in his career and the team would be better off spending some of his potential salary on guys who might be able to help. He still wants to help the Mavs win another ring…it won’t happen during his remaining playing career…but at the end of the day, the Mavs are making these types of moves to appease Dirk.
I agree with your post and thoughts on why Dirk is taking a reduced salary. But Josh McRoberts isn’t going to do much for the Mavs. The fact the Mavs took on a $6M salary dump right after signing Dirk is a unique decision.
Well, they can stretch McRoberts still…so they got rid of Hammons money, and then can open up $4 million by stretching McRoberts. It essentially comes down to the same amount they would have had, but they get a free 2nd round pick