Dirk Nowitzki to Opt Out, Will Return to Mavericks

Dirk Nowitzki changed summer plans by saying he will opt out of his last year on his contract and become an unrestricted free agent.

Dirk Nowitzki finished his 18th season as a member of the Dallas Mavericks last month after losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs. After finishing yet another impressive season, Nowitzki reiterated the fact that he has every intention on finishing out the three-year deal he signed two-year ago.

New circulated over the past few days that Nowitzki would join Deron Williams and Chandler Parsons in opting out of their contracts, but there was still no official word on if Nowitzki had changed his mind on finishing his current three-year deal.

Earlier Monday morning, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon tweeted out that Nowitzki intends to fulfill his three-year deal and be on the books for around 8 million dollars next season. A few hours later, MacMahon backtracks as Dirk Nowitzki himself said he would opt out on The Ticket.

Whoa! Dirk tells Bob and Dan on The Ticket that he is opting out of his contact. Reiterates that he will stay in Dallas.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) May 2, 2016

This does come as surprising news to a bit as Nowitzki has said all along he wanted to finish his current three-year deal. Although Nowitzki will indeed become an unrestricted free agent, he made it abundantly clear that he will be back in Dallas next season.

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There is obviously a bigger plan behind this that many people will try to speculate on what exactly it is, but it’s a plan we will wait to see unravel come the summer.