Dirk Nowitzki isn’t ready to call it NBA career.
Not now, now after this season, not even following next season.
The Dallas Mavericks’ sweet-shooting big man owns a player option for next season, which he’s supposed to exercise in attempt to give the team ample cap flexibility in free agency. It was not widely expected that he would play beyond next season, though. He will be 39 when the 2018-19 tips off, and the expiration of his deal seems to imply a tidy exit would come.
Except it apparently won’t.
Here’s what Dirk said on the subject of his future, per Marc Stein of ESPN.com:
In an interview Sunday with ESPN Radio, Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki acknowledged that he has given thought to playing beyond the final remaining season on his contract.
Although he stressed that he wouldn’t make a firm decision until after completing the 2016-17 campaign, Nowitzki said on ESPN Radio’s “NBA Insiders” show that playing an even “20 years would sound really, really great.”
Assuming Nowitzki is able to remain healthy through next season, there’s no real reason why he should walk away.
If the Mavericks are projected to be really, really, ridiculously bad in 2017-18, then hanging it up would make some semblance of sense. But if they’re supposed to be competitive, Nowitzi has, up until now, shown he can thrive while toeing the line between featured and complementary option. He is still phenomenal when creating his own offense, and he’s also putting down nearly 39 percent of his spot-up triples, according to NBA.com, rendering him an ideal supporting cast member for any kind of roster, regardless of how many ball-dominating guards and wings it might deploy. In today’s NBA, against certain opponents, the Mavericks can even get away stashing the seven-foot Nowitzki at center, where he creates offensive mismatches galore.
Bank on Nowitzki getting to his 20th season. This isn’t just a matter of legacy, of solely reaching that milestone as his body deteriorates; it’s a matter of that, and the fact that he can still help the Mavericks a great deal.
