Dirk Nowitzki takes major pay cut with new Mavs contract
Dirk Nowtizki’s contract extension with the Dallas Mavericks was officially announced on Tuesday, and the 12-time All-Star is reportedly taking even less money than some initially thought. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Nowitzki has signed a three-year, $25 million deal.
Nowitzki made $22.7 million last season, so he’ll be taking roughly a 60% pay cut. It was initially believed that Dirk signed a contract very close to the three-year, $30 million extension Tim Duncan signed with the San Antonio Spurs, but Nowitzki is taking even less in an attempt to give the Mavs more salary cap flexibility.
The deal also reportedly includes a no-trade clause and a player option to opt out after the 2015-2016 season.
“(Mark Cuban) knows I don’t want to go anywhere and he doesn’t want me to go anywhere,” Nowitzki recently told ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM. “We’re guessing that will be over pretty quick and then we can focus on making this franchise even better. This deal is not going to be about squeezing out the last dollar.”
Nowitzki’s hometown discount is one of the reasons Dallas was able to offer Chandler Parsons a three-year, $45 million deal that was too much for the Houston Rockets to match. Dirk likely realizes how strong the Western Conference was last season — led by the Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder — and wants to put himself in position to win another ring before retiring.
Other players in Dirk’s position would try to squeeze every last dime out of what could be their final contract, especially since he has already won a championship. The new contract proves that he loves it in Dallas and always has the best interest of the team in mind.
