Andrew Bogut has been a member of the Dallas Mavericks for, like, a minute, and yet he’s already thinking about staying with them beyond this season.
From NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper:
Next summer, Bogut will be 32 and a free agent, able to select a championship contender for another run at a ring. Yet his first preference is to stay with the Mavericks.
“From what I’ve seen so far I love it,” he said. “It’s much more suited to me as a person. I like California. But Texas, just the people here and the mentality’s a little slower probably than California with the every-day helter-skelter life. Whereas here it’s a little bit different culturally, in a good way. I wouldn’t say California or Texas is better. For myself, it feels like just a cool city. I like it. There’s a lot of good places to go. I didn’t realize how big the Dallas-Fort Worth area is. There’s a lot to do here, a lot of good restaurants and good cafes, a lot of nice people.
“When I first got here I couldn’t believe how nice the people were. People who didn’t even know who I was, just talking. ‘Hello. How are you? How’s your day?’ when you go into a shop. You just don’t hear that anymore. I guess it’s kind of that Texas mentality. I tweeted about it and some people were like, ‘You’re crazy, it never happens,’ but I experienced the first three, four days I was here. People were very nice to me. If I can be here long term, yeah, I’d love to.”
First off, I can totally see Dallas being a better lifestyle fit for Bogut. He seems super friendly so long as you’re not scowling at him; at the very least, I’d peg him as someone who is willing to indulge conversation with complete strangers. He is more likely to get that small-town feel anywhere in Texas, Dallas included, than on the West Coast/in the Bay Area.
As for his future with the Mavericks, that’s up in the air, and largely depends on how this season unfurls. Bogut will turn 32 in November and has played in 70 games just once since 2007-08. He’s also suffered injuries during each of the Golden State Warriors’ last two playoff campaigns.
With the salary cap set to climb over $100 million next summer, an aging, injury-prone Bogut should still have no trouble sussing out a semi-lucrative offer, perhaps one that might even pay him as much or more than the $11 million he’s slated to make this year. That puts him in an awkward situation with the Mavericks to begin with, since they’re known for cycling through centers based on price and star power.
Throw Bogut’s injury woes into that equation, along with the fact that Dirk Nowitzki will be 39 next June and could decide to retire, forcing Dallas to pivot on its make-the-playoffs-now stance, and it’s hard to say whether he’ll be with the Mavericks beyond 2016-17.
But hey, at least he’s enjoying his time with them now.
