Dirk Nowitzki has been a Dallas Maverick a long time, actually almost 14 years to be exact. The Mavericks have made the playoffs 12 straight season, but that will likely end this year.
Nowitzki is 34 years old and not interested in a rebuilding plan. Dirk is frustrated with the Mavs front office and personnel choices,namely letting Tyson Chandler walk, and according to ESPN Dallas, is starting to wonder if the Mavericks should maybe trade him if they are not going to be competitive.
“It’s going to be tough now,” Nowitzki said after the Mavs’ home overtime loss to the Western Conference cellar-dwellingNew Orleans Hornets. “I always liked to think you don’t want to build your franchise on hope.
“We hoped for Deron last year. We hoped for Dwight. Why would he leave the Lakers? To me, it makes no sense. He’s in a great situation. Why would CP3 leave? [The Los Angeles Clippers are] the best team in the league probably right now. They’re probably the deepest team. So are you going to hope that we get something?
“Maybe Cuban has something up his sleeve. Maybe you have to take a chance on a bad contract to get him in here and make something happen. I mean, I don’t know. That’s something we’ll have to see this summer. We’re going to play out this season. I’m going to get better and better, hopefully from game to game, so I can actually close out some of these games. And then we’ll see what happens.”
Cuban in displaying his loyalty to Dirk, took those comments in stride.
“Dirk gets upset when we are in a tough period,” Cuban replied in an email to ESPNDallas.com. “If you only knew the things he has said to me during recent seasons about our team. I’m glad I didn’t listen 🙂
“That’s Dirk. He uses being mad for personal motivation. No one on this team should be happy with the way we are playing right now. I know I’m not. But we aren’t going to change our approach. We will be opportunistic and try to get this season turned around.”
Owners want players the caliber of Dirk Nowitzki to retire with their original team. It’s about legacy and perception. If Mark Cuban can’t surround Dirk with suitable talent in his final years, then he does owe him the respect of trading him to a contender.