For better or worse, Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks have professed their undying devotion to one another and plan on remaining loyal to the bitter end. But the Mavs also have to start looking toward the future, and part of that entails having some financial flexibility to supplement their promising young core.
After swinging a deal to land Euro sensation Luka Doncic in the draft last week, he’ll join this season’s rookie standout Dennis Smith Jr. as the franchise’s presumptive star duo for the future. But the organization would also reportedly like to sign DeAndre Jordan (water under the bridge and all that), who opted out of his Clippers contract on Friday to become a free agent.
In order to accomplish that, however, the Mavs will need to reconfigure their current deal with Nowitzki, which reportedly required them to decline this option for next season, which was worth $5 million.
Via Marc Stein of The New York Times:
The Dallas Mavericks on Friday night declined Dirk Nowitzki’s $5 million team option for next season to make him a free agent and maximize their financial flexibility this off-season, according to two people familiar with the decision.
The move was mutual, and a new contract for Nowitzki is expected in July, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the decision publicly.
The only question is how the Mavs plan on compensating Dirk. We’ve seen cases like this in the past where a player nearing retirement will work out some sort of gentlemen’s agreement with the organization that will prove lucrative to them in the future. That may very well be the case here, but we may not know the ins and outs of it for years to come.
Until then, it’ll be interesting to see what sort of stop-gap deal they hammer out this summer that is mutually beneficial for both sides.
