http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=5339661

[This message has been edited by Silvertaps (edited 6/30/2010 8:05p).]

He will go back to the Mavs I bet with a bigger contract.

he won't leave cuban. cuban has been great to him.

he's opting out to try get a longer contract under the current collective bargaining agreement, as they are about to restructure a new agreement, possibly introduce a hard cap, and almost definitely have a lockout.

he's securing more money for a longer period of time right now, by forfeiting the 21MM he's due next year, he can make more money for longer instead of taking the 21MM and getting much less money for the remainder of the newer contract under the newer CBA.


this was expected. dirk aint goin nowhere unless he gets coerced directly by one of the big FA's.

No one else is going to sign the guy.

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in fact, IMO, a tactical GM who has the possibility of luring Dwade or LBJ would serve either of those guys playing styles much better by pairing them with Dirk than Bosh

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Disagree completely. Having someone that can get the difficult points in the paint is extremely important.

Wade had Shaq.
Kobe has Gasol and Bynum and had Shaq.
Parker has Duncan.
Billups/Hamilton had Rasheed.

Dirk can't pound it inside and get those tough points. Sure, outside shooting will help, but would you rather get LeBron+Bosh and cheap outside shooting like Kyle Korver (hit 54% of his threes and 49% of his twos last year) or get Bron+Dirk (42% of his threes and 48% of his twos) and cheap post help like Jason Collins, Johan Petro, Kwame Brown, Drew Gooden or Jermaine ONeal?

That is a simple choice, and everyone is going to take the cheap shooter with Bosh+Bron over the cheap center with Bron+Dirk.

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Now, Dirk is certainly older, but if you ask me which pairing do I think has a better shot of 2-3 championships in the next 4-5 years, LBJ and Dirk or LBJ and Bosh, I take LBJ and Dirk hands down, as I honestly believe Dirk's game compliments LBJ (or D Wade's) game much better than Bosh's.

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I don't think any GM will agree with you. Bosh can score in the paint, which is a lot more important than hitting threes, and a lot harder to find. He can also rebound and is younger.

Dirk NEEDS a big banger to play with probably moreso than most of the elite PF's... I don't think he's a prime piece on a championship team unless he gets paired. I said during the playoffs the Mavs need to target Al Jefferson this summer... looks like they are doing that now.

Maybe he'll go to the Spurs for the Vet minimum. At least he could get a ring! HEB could throw in a nice endorsement deal! Cmon Dirk, watching Cuban literally implode at the thought of you in SA is worth it alone!

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Maybe he'll go to the Spurs for the Vet minimum. At least he could get a ring!

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Troll. everyone knows the spurs will never win another ring in the next 10 years.

As a Spurs fan, it would be awesome to have Dirk. Hell, there would be a lot of teams who would like to have him. However, it will never happen. Dirk seems very loyal to Cuban and to the Mavs organization. In the end, he just wants to get paid just like everyone else.

I'm a Mavs fan through and through, but honestly, I don't think Dirk is a #1 guy. He is a Pippen, not a Jordan. If he would realize this, he could pair with LBJ or Wade, or even Bosch and be very successful.

He's not a PF, he's a tall, slow, jump shooting SF playing PF and that's not gonna get it done.

I have no idea what Dirk's true value is, I've decided.

As a Mavericks' fan, I'm a believer that the guy is a #1 max contract player, but I acknowledge that I'm watching with green and blue glasses.

I also know that I can't trust the opinions of open Mavericks' haters, who decide to irrationally bang on Dirk for one reason or another.

So I don't know if he needs a Robin or a Batman, but he's the best player ever to come over from Europe, the best ever to play in Dallas, one of the best ever to play in the State of Texas, and a NBA HOFer.

Dirk is worth a max contract - the only thing that may be holding him back is his age. 6 years is a long time to commit to a player with 1023 games under his belt. At least Germany never lasts long in international play, so not a lot of wear and tear there.

I've always been under the thought that Dirk needs a Batman, and would be an incredible Robin. He creates ridiculously hard matchup problems, can post up a little, can stretch the floor a lot and can drive. Offensively, he is great. If you paired him with a dominant alpha-dog that can control the court on both ends, you have the nucleus of a championship team.

They bring this up on Dallas radio every once in a while: Who is the best player Dirk has played with on the Mavs?

Nash? - probably, but I don't think he was anywhere near as good on the Mavs as he was on the Suns
Terry? - Possibly
Kidd? - Maybe in Kidd's prime, but not now
Butler?
Finley?
Jamison?
Missing Someone?

Finley is the best player Dirk has played with in my mind, and 2nd place isn't even close.

Nash would probably be 2nd best, although I agree that he really came alive after going to Phoenix.

Maybe Dirk is more like 1.5. In the past 20 years, who has carried their team to a championship? Jordan, Shaq, Kobe, Duncan, Olajuwan, Wade. 6 guys in the past 20 years. Not carrying your team to a title does not mean you aren't one of the 5 best players in the league.

Finley was pretty great early in Dirk's career.
On the 57-Win 02 Mavs, Dirk averaged 23 and Fin averaged 21.

Dirk/Finley/Nash/Van Exel is a pretty explosive first four options.

But Dirk's greatest advantage is that he has had pretty incredible depth around him throughout his career.

Last 8 seasons (only counting time they really contributed. i.e., JJ Barea didn't do much his first two seasons, so I don't count them):
Finley (4 seasons)
Nash (3 seasons)
NVE (1.5 seasons)
Raja Bell (1 season)
Antoine Walker (1 season)
Josh Howard (6.5 Seasons)
Antwan Jamison (1 season)
Marquis Daniels (3 Seasons)
Devin Harris (3.5 Seasons)
Jason Kidd (2.5 Seasons)
Jerry Stackhouse (4 seasons)
Jason Terry (6 seasons)
Erick Dampier (6 seasons)
Desagana Diop (3 seasons)
JJ Barea (2 seasons)
Brandon Bass (2 seasons)
Roddy B (1 season)
Caron Butler (.5 Season)
Shawn Marion (1 season)
Brendan Haywood (.5 season)

That's a lot of collective talent that Dirk has played with. Finley in 02 and 03 was probably the best second banana Dirk had. But Dirk has had a lot of talent around him every year. He just hasn't necessarily had the great second player. But he has always had dynamic scorers (Nash, NVE, Fin, Terry, harris, Stack, Jamison, Howard, Butler, etc.) I think the biggest thing he hasn't had is consistency. Nellie-Avery-Rick are three very different coaches. Lots of turnover on his teammates. Nash/Harris/Kidd are all very good, but very different. Terry and Dampier are his two biggest consistent players around him, which is just sad.

Per a thread on CluthFans:

I just heard on the Radio that Dirk stiffed Donnie Nelson and the Mavericks.
I've been following this over the last few days. Per Randy Galloway in Dallas the events have unfolded like this.

1. Donnie Nelson calls Dirk and tells him he is flying to Germany to meet with him at midnight at his home.

2. While Donnie is at DFW waiting to board a plane on Tuesday Holgar (Dirks basketball mentor) calls Donnie and informs him that they are coming back to the states and will meet them at Dirks home in Dallas.

3. Donnie shows up at DFW Airport the next day with a greeting party for Dirk only to find out when the plane arrived that Dirk was not on it.

4. Dirk and Holgar stayed in New York to meet with New Jersey owner Mikhail Prokhorov and possibly New York GM Donnie Walsh

5. Cuban is pissing his pants.

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4. Dirk and Holgar stayed in New York to meet with New Jersey owner Mikhail Prokhorov and possibly New York GM Donnie Walsh

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No one has confirmed this.

Per Dallasbasketball.com Dirk is meeting up with J. Kidd in NYC. Kidd has a house there and they are going to have sushi tonight.

I don't think Dirk would play for Avery again in NJ anyways, he was one of the main reasons the little general got canned in Dallas.

while i think the chances of him re-signing in dallas are probably better than 90%, i do think it's a little interesting that he didn't do something immediately.

if he truly wants to win a title, i wouldn't blame him one bit if he waits a few days to see what shakes out around the league and has a chance to hear the mavs' plans for improving their roster.

so i guess we'll find out which is more important...winning a title or winning a title in dallas

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in fact, IMO

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Well...is it a fact or an opinion?

http://www.newsok.com/nba-free-agency-roundup-dirk-nowitzki-agrees-to-new-deal-with-mavericks/article/3473452?custom_click=masthead_topten

[This message has been edited by secretajent (edited 7/3/2010 9:55p).]

as expected.