Mavs offseason report: Time for Dirk to play with another superstar?
Earl K. Sneed asks whether it's time for the Dallas Mavericks to pair Dirk Nowitzki with another superstar?
Mavs offseason report: Time for Dirk to play with another superstar?
DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki has seemingly done it all in his 14-year NBA career: the 2007 league MVP Award, last season’s Finals MVP, 11 straight trips to the All-Star Game and the first European-born player to score 20,000 career points.
In fact, there’s not much Nowitzki hasn’t accomplished.
But at this stage in a surefire Hall of Fame career, is it time for Nowitzki to play with another superstar?
Third only to Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett among active players on the league’s scoring list and moving ahead of Charles Barkley this season for 19th all-time with 24,134 career points, Nowitzki is without a doubt one of the game’s best — and arguably its most underrated — scorers ever. But after showing signs early in the season of rust following the lockout and admittedly not having enough help in the Mavs’ first-round series sweep at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Nowitzki is open to adding a player he can defer to when the time calls for it.
“Hey, I mean, if that’s the case, I’d love to hand over the keys,” Nowitzki said when asked the question on Sunday as the Dallas Mavericks gathered for exit interviews.
“We’ll have to wait and see what happens,” he added as the team enters the summer with financial flexibility while looking to land a star player in free agency. “I still think I can play some great basketball and can still contribute to a good team, but like I said, we’ll have to wait and see what happens this summer or next summer.”
Forced to take a week-long hiatus from action in January due to a sore right knee and conditioning concerns during the early stage of the season, Nowitzki averaged 21.6 points and 6.7 rebounds in 62 of the Mavericks’ 66 appearances. He also played 33.5 minutes a game while connecting on 45.7 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from three-point range.
But while his numbers spiked to 26.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in 38.5 minutes during the Mavs’ four playoff games, he was forced to work even harder for open looks with the Thunder defense focused on the 7-footer and sixth man Jason Terry. As a result, Nowitzki hit just 44.2 percent from the floor in the series and only 1-of-6 from behind the arc, while the Thunder’s trio of three-time scoring champion Kevin Durant, All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook and Sixth Man of the Year Award winner James Harden took turns terrorizing the Dallas defense.
“You know, if you look at all the top teams now, they at least have two or three guys they can just throw the ball to and they do their thing,” Nowitzki admitted following the Mavs’ Game 4 loss. “If you look at OKC, who we just lost to, it was either Westbrook in Game 1 and Game 2 then it was Durant (in Game 3). (In Game 4), they just throw it to Harden and he goes off. So, if you want to be an elite team in the league right now, you have to have two or three guys that can go off at any time. I just thought they had more weapons than us. That was pretty clear.”
Mavericks president of basketball operations and GM Donnie Nelson says he and owner Mark Cuban agree with Nowitzki’s assessment, stating that the priority heading into the summer — with six free agents of their own and coach Rick Carlisle’s contract also up — is for the team to add a star player to pair with Nowitzki as he heads into the latter stage of his career.
“Yeah, that’s an important piece. I think you saw during the course of the playoffs, [Nowitzki] was fighting tooth and nail and he needs help,” Nelson explained. “He needs help and we plan to get it for him. … In this league, you’re always looking for athletes. You’re always looking for folks that can protect the paint, you’re always looking for guys that can create their own shot. Oklahoma City series, we were beat on both sides of the ball. We couldn’t create opportunities, life was very difficult and it was a grind, but we’ve gotta get guys that can create those opportunities and make life easier for Dirk and the rest of the boys.”
With that said, the question remains whether or not it’s time for the Mavericks’ caped crusader to transition from Batman to Robin?
“The great thing about Dirk is he’s a greater person than he is a player, and he’s made it clear not only from his words but from his actions that he will take any role that is right for this franchise to proceed forward and to continue to grow,” Carlisle said while looking ahead. “I think one of the things that’s exciting is that he was able to get back to his form from the playoffs last year after going through some of the physical challenges that he had, and the hope is that he’ll continue to want to play for a long time. And so, I know Mark and Donnie have taken on the challenge of getting more high-level players in here and we’re gonna beat the bushes to do it.”
