The Dallas Mavericks are vying for a better playoff seed in the Western Conference. If the season ended today, Dallas would be the seven seed and match up with in-state rival San Antonio in the first round.
Although a lot of Mavs fans would agree that sneaking into the playoffs this year would come as a pleasant surprise considering they were relying largely on a team of unwanted veterans and players coming off major injuries, Dirk Nowitzki is used to a certain level of success with the Mavs, and likely getting swept out of the first round of the playoffs doesn’t mesh with that.
Still, Dirk is intensely loyal to the organization, and when asked by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon about his plan for next season, the ageless German said that he wants to retire as a Maverick, and his plan is to pick up his player option — worth only $8.7 million — for next season. However, there was one major caveat:
Dirk says he plans to pick up the player option in his contract for next season. "I always said I wanted to play those 3 years to the end."
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) March 25, 2016
Dirk: "In my mind, after we won the championship, it was always clear I will retire a Mav." But he wants no part of a rebuilding project.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) March 25, 2016
Dirk was too polite to say it outright, but he made it clear he would only want to stay with the Mavericks if Dallas remained committed to winning now and not rebuilding. The Mavericks strategy to try and recruit high-end level players has largely been a failure since they first tried to implement it in 2012, but they’ve done just enough each year to remain in the playoff hunt despite not winning a postseason series since their championship win in 2011.
Mavs GM Donnie Nelson and owner Mark Cuban have had plenty of opportunities since 2011 to try to go the rebuilding route, but they have passed every time in favor of trying to lure free agents to Dallas and reload the team for a playoff run. That strategy is in part due to the respect they have for Nowitzki and their willingness to try and keep the Mavs at a certain level of competitiveness every year he’s still playing.
Could that change next year? It doesn’t seem likely. Although Chandler Parsons could theoretically opt out, he probably won’t pass up his $16 million player option after another knee surgery knocked him out of the season. The Mavs also have Wesley Matthews and veterans J.J. Barea and Devin Harris under contract for next season. It doesn’t seem realistic to expect the Mavs land a high-end free agent, so they’ll likely fill out the rest of their roster with veterans and a few under-the-radar players they think will be a good fit.
You could certainly make the argument that it’s smarter to just blow things up and start from scratch, but Dallas has too much pride and too much respect for Nowitzki to do that. So, assuming Dirk picks up his player option, the Mavericks will once again likely be stuck in limbo between the lottery, and actually competing for a championship.