Good morning. Tom’s getting some much needed R&R for the next few days, so I’m in charge. Let’s basketball.
Dirk Nowitzki might play forever
Good morning. We have that and more in Monday’s NBA newsletter.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Dirk Nowitzki is definitely returning to Dallas next season. The question now is whether he’s sticking around for one more year after that. A little piece of free-agent news on Sunday offers a clue.
ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that the Mavericks will decline their $25 million team option on Nowitzki for next season to ink him to a new contract. One option being discussed is a new two-year deal, presumably one worth more in total than the $25 million Nowitzki was going to make this season. The Mavericks will do “whatever Dirk wants,” according to Stein, so you’d think they wouldn’t make him take less money overall.
Dirk previously expressed his desire to play until the end of his existing contract and then retire. But in April, he left the door open to suit up for the 2018-19 season as well if he felt as spry next year as he did after this season. He can certainly still ball out, even if his role isn’t what it once was.
A lot can change in a year, and the Mavericks’ new deal with Nowitzki will surely leave both with the option of walking away after next season. But it sure sounds like two more years of Dirk Nowitzki is in the cards.
(There are some ancillary salary-cap benefits to the Mavericks declining the option too, which I lay out here. That alone probably wouldn’t put Dallas in position to chase top free agents, though).
The Cavs and Pacers reportedly looped in the Nuggets as a third team to take on Kevin Love in a Paul George trade. Love to Denver makes sense in that the Nuggets want a power forward upgrade and have several young prospects to burn. But Love doesn’t exactly solve Denver’s defensive woes.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are understandably off limits, and I’d be careful about dropping Gary Harris into the package as well. That leaves some combination of Emmanuel Mudiay, Juancho Hernangomez, Malik Beasley, and matching salary to entice the Pacers.
Indy Cornrows suggested a version of this very trade about a week ago.
Paul Flannery on the Celtics’ and 76ers’ rebuilding projects coming full circle on draft night.
Scott Cacciola of The New York Times spoke with Adam Silver, Rick Welts, and Bill Kennedy about their experiences riding a float during NYC’s Pride March. Awesome to see Silver embrace this like no other league commissioners have.
Hassan Whiteside’s Snapchat commentary at the Louvre needs to be turned into a web series. Next up: sneaking a cell phone inside the Vatican.
The Big 3 began on Sunday in Brooklyn, though you won’t be able to see it until it airs on tape delay on FOX Sports 1 on Monday night. Allen Iverson stole the show, even if he didn’t do much on the court.
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, the former Nuggets guard best known for refusing to stand for the National Anthem in 1996, spoke with Marc Spears of The Undefeated about his stance and his support for Colin Kaepernick.
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