Could Dirk Nowitzki Really Play Another Two Or Three More Years?

Two years ago, Dirk Nowitzki took one for the team and signed an extremely cap-friendly deal for three years, $25 million to give the Mavs some wriggle room to chase high-profile free agents. That contract included a player option for the third year, which according to a new report, Nowitzki plans to exercise this summer.

But Mavs fans shouldn’t fret. After a solid statistical season that culminated in a playoff appearance, the 37-year-old is apparently considering re-signing with the team for two or three more years. Via Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com:

“We had one more year on the contract, but I think this is the right thing to do,” he said. “We’re going to sit with [owner] Mark [Cuban] and [General Manager] Donnie [Nelson] obviously over the next few weeks and figure out how to improve this franchise again.

“Ever since after the championship, we’ve been basically a first-round exit. We’ve been a seven, eight seed. We’ve only won a few playoff games, and obviously the goal was to compete at the highest level in my last couple of years. So there is some moving to do, some thinking, some putting our heads together the next few weeks heading into free agency, heading into the draft. So this is just one move that hopefully starts a chain reaction for us to get better again, to compete really at a high level. We’ll see how it goes.”

That would likely include yet another pay-cut to give his team more flexibility in the offseason as Dallas will certainly need to make some upgrades to their roster. Losing Chandler Parsons is a real possibility, and it seems unlikely they’ll be able to land the biggest free agent of them all, Kevin Durant.

However, Mike Conley and Dwight Howard have both been floated as possibilities.

But when it comes to the specifics of Dirk’s next contract, it appears he has carte blanche from owner Mark Cuban.

If the Big German does, in fact, play two more years, he’ll join Kobe Bryant as the only other NBA star to play 20 seasons with a single team.

(ESPN.com)