Dirk Nowitzki Signs 2-Year, $10M Extension With Mavericks

Dirk Nowitzki will be playing at least 20 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks.

Mavericks NEWS: Dirk Nowitzki Re-signs

The Mavs announced Thursday that they are close to finalizing a two-year, $10 million contract with the 39-year-old German power forward.
ESPN’s Tim McMahon first reported the development.

According to McMahon, the deal includes a team option as part of the second year. The Mavericks declined Nowitzki’s option for the 2017-2018 season last month, although few expected the seven-foot veteran to leave Dallas this summer as a free agent.

That option would have paid Nowitzki $25 million this season with $5 million guaranteed. He has taken pay cuts before in order to help Mark Cuban and the team with salary cap flexibility.

The 13-time All-Star was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks as the ninth overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft and was immediately traded to the Mavs.

Nowitzki — who is sixth on the league’s all-time scoring list — averaged 14.2 points on 43.7 percent shooting last season, his least-productive statistical campaign since his rookie year. He played in just 54 games in 2016-2017 because of soreness in his right Achilles tendon, and switched to mainly playing center. Nowitzki also made 37.8 percent of his three-point attempts.

The German could join Kobe Bryant as the only other NBA player in history to spend his entire 20-year career with one team.

The Mavericks have not won a playoff series since their 2011. Nevertheless, Nowitzki — the 2006-07 MVP and 2011 Finals MVP — signed a hometown discount deal to allow Dallas management flexibility to target premier free agents. The franchise finished with a losing record last season for the first time since Nowitzki’s second campaign (1999-2000). The German helped the Mavs reach the postseason 15 times since 2000-2001.

Nowitzki passed the 30,000-point mark during a March 7 home victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, which was one of the Mavs’ few highlights from last season. The five former NBA players who rank higher than the German on the all-time scoring list are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Bryant, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.

The former star of DJK Wurzburg of the German basketball league has long said he hoped to reach 20 seasons with Dallas, although he has not explicitly stated whether he will leave the team once he reaches that milestone in two years. Nowitzki has continually said he plans to keep playing basketball as long as the game remains fun for him, and that his health and the Mavericks’ competitiveness are among the few factors that would determine when he retires.

“At the end of the day, I just can’t imagine myself in a different uniform,” he said in April, per the Associated Press’ Schuyler Dixon (via NBA.com). “If we’re rebuilding, then I’m the face of that.”

DALLAS, TX – APRIL 21:  Dirk Nowitzki #41 of the Dallas Mavericks dribbles the ball against Serge Ibaka #9 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during game three of the Western Conference Quarterfinals of the 2016 NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Center on April 21, 2016 in Dallas, Texas.  NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.  (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)