Nowitzki Coming Back Next Season

The Dallas Mavericks may be in a bit of rebuilding mode, but Dirk Nowitzki plans on being back next year. He has two years remaining on his contract and said he plans to honor it. Nowitzki became the sixth player to score 30,000 points in league history last month.

Nowitzki averaged 14.2 points, but played just 54 games this season. While he’s slowed down a step and isn’t the player he was 10 years ago, he can do no wrong in the eyes of Dallas fans.

Even though there are two years on the contract, the big German confirmed he is playing next year. He did say he will see about the following season.

Nowitzki was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1998 with the ninth pick, but traded to Dallas right away. The teams had worked out a trade beforehand, where the Mavs would draft Robert Traylor at No. 6. Milwaukee would draft Nowitzki at No. 9 and Milwaukee also added Pat Garrity, who they drafted at no. 19, to the deal. The Mavericks turned around and traded Garrity for Steve Nash.

At the time of the trade, most people thought the Bucks had made out like bandits.

“He can score in the low post. He can rebound, he can defend,”wrote the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Don’t tell me about his weight. There is a lot less of Robert Traylor than there used to be. Tell me about his athleticism and his explosiveness, large doses of both for a package of this size.”

Many in Dallas weren’t real happy with the moves the team made. The team passed on Paul Pierce at No. 6 and at the time, Nash was a third-team point guard. Dallas also dealt away its 1999 first-round pick to get Nash, which turned out to be one of the best moves Don Nelson ever made.