Was it loyalty that pushed Dirk Nowitzki to sign up once more with the Dallas Mavericks? The German power forward has always been with the Mavericks ever since the start of his career since 1998 up to the present. And now that he has officially made his choice in staying with the Mavs, which gives him at least sixteen long years with the franchise and more. Nowitzki was chosen as the ninth pick in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and immediately traded to the Mavericks which he stayed up to now.
Nowitzki led the Mavericks to 13 NBA Playoffs (2001-2012; 2014), including the franchise's first Finals appearance in 2006 and only championship in 2011. And because of the longevity of his career with the Mavericks, Nowitzki "couldn't even imagine" playing for another team.
The 36 year old former NBA MVP has signed a 3 year contract worth 30 million dollars with a player clause 'that would allow Nowitzki to return to free agency in the summer of 2016." Aside from that, the contract will maintain his no-trade clause which will leave him a Mavs for life or until the contract ends. This is good for Dirk as he will be around 39 years old when his contract with the franchise ends. His pay cut is significantly higher compared to his previous pay from the $22.7 million he made in 2013-14.
Right after the news broke out; Dirk shared his thoughts through twitter with a post "MFFL" which means "Mavs Fan For Life." The deal will become official until July 10, when a league wide moratorium on signings and trades is lifted and the official salary-cap and luxury-tax figures for the 2014-15 seasons are announced.
According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com "Fresh off completing a four-year, $80 million contract in which he left some $16 million on the table, Nowitzki has agreed to take a far steeper pay cut this time in hopes of leaving enough salary-cap space for the Mavericks to sign top free-agent target Carmelo Anthony or multiple contributors with their considerable salary-cap space this summer."
Nowitzki will be the second highest paid player under the Mavericks franchise, next to the pre-draft trade that imported center Tyson Chandler's 14.6 million 2014-15 salary from the New York Knicks. But Nowitzki does not seem to mind.
