nowitzki to Cuban--worry about our veterans

[MavsFanFinley]

(Great, now Dirk is wanting to make sure we re-sign Finley (among others) before we offer him his contract extension. Why would he want to make sure Finley is secure before himself? What if he bolts [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

Anyway, I thought this was a good article. I didn't realize that Booth would be a restricted free agent and that we can go as high as 4.5 to match other teams offers. Good. And, I liked that little tid-bit about Jerome Williams. I think he would be a nice fit here.)

Nowitzki set to cash in on breakthrough season
05/16/2001

By Marc Stein / The Dallas Morning News

Dirk Nowitzki capped his playoff teething with 42 points, 18 rebounds and six steals in Monday's season-ending defeat at San Antonio – plateaus only Michael Jordan has reached in the same playoff game.

Next up for Nowitzki? Some more big numbers, perhaps.

Michael Finley, Shawn Bradley and Calvin Booth are the Mavericks' marquee free agents, but Nowitzki is also eligible for a new contract later this summer. Actually it's a six-year contract extension, negotiable with Dallas only, that can be hashed out between Aug. 1 and Oct. 31.

Final numbers won't be known until July, when new salary-cap figures are finalized, but a new deal for Nowitzki figures to fall in the $80 million-$90 million range – and would kick in after the 2001-02 campaign. Nowitzki is already under contract for next season at $2.2 million.

Dirk Nowitzki is poised to become an even bigger star under coach Don Nelson.
Nowitzki, though, wasn't even aware that he's entitled to an extension after three seasons in the league. On Tuesday, as he made arrangements to return home to Germany, the 22-year-old urged Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to worry about Finley, Bradley and Booth first.

"I don't see any reason to rush," Nowitzki said. "Let those guys go ahead. If it's better for the team to wait, we can wait. We have to sign our veteran guys."

Free-agent negotiations in the NBA start July 1, with the first day for signings expected to be moved forward from Aug. 1 to July 15 this off-season. If the Mavericks and Nowitzki elect to hold off on an extension, Dallas still holds its rights to the blossoming forward through the 2002-03 season.

Only then would Nowitzki be free to negotiate with other teams. But Cuban has said repeatedly that he will never let it get to that point.

Especially after watching Nowitzki's progress in the playoffs. "Scary" was Cuban's word after Nowitzki joined Jordan in an exclusive club of players to total 40 points, 15 rebounds and five steals in one playoff game.

"I love it here," Nowitzki said. "It's the place to be."

In another contract development, the Mavericks received confirmation from the league Tuesday that they will be able to match free-agent offers to Booth up to the $4.5 million range without burning their own salary-cap exception.

This off-season is the first in league history in which the mid-level exception will match the league's average salary. As a result, the Mavericks say, they will be able to offer Booth at least a two-year deal (known as an "Early Bird&quot starting at $4.5 million if the restricted free agent gets an exception offer from another team.

The Mavericks don't want to use their $4.5 million exception on Booth so they can also pursue a veteran free agent, preferably a proven rebounder or a big guard. Among the names expected to be available at that salary level: Washington's Mitch Richmond, Houston's Shandon Anderson and Toronto's Jerome Williams.

Toronto's Antonio Davis will almost certainly command higher dollars, thereby forcing the Mavericks to go the sign-and-trade route if they hope to pursue him.


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[Murphy3]

dirk is just wanting to get first things done first.
and first things are...
#1, re-sign finley
#2, re-sign bradley
#3, sign a guy with a big body, jerome williams, davis, etc
#4, re-sign booth
#5, sign a backup guard,
#6, dirk contract extension.

trust me, it would be much better for the mavs to negotiate and get an extension this summer as opposed to next.
and it would be awesome to know dirk was going to be a mav for 6-7 more years at least

[Hales233]

re-signing Bradley is our #2 priority?? Apparently you don't want to win an NBA title, because as long as Bradley is playing significant minutes, it's not happening.

[Murphy3]

actually, everything after finley can pretty much be lumped together.
all about equally important
i can see your point though...a big body is important to bring in, but re-signing bradley doesn't have that much to do with that.
the mavs can re-sign bradley and sign a big man without either contract affecting the other.

yes, bradley can give us 20-25 solid minutes a game.
hales, you're wrong on this one.
sorry

[TheKid]

As much as it pains me to say this, after watching Bradley these playoffs it's imperative we resign him. Now if he can give us what he gave us in the playoffs throughout the season, that would be great!!! He didn't do anything outstanding, but he just gave us solid play and the way he played Duncan I thought was amazing. Obviously he'll NEVER be able to shut the great centers down, but he does alter their shots and cause them to work harder so I think we NEED to resign him.

[Murphy3]

it really is imperative
even more crucial than signing finley (just shock value)

[MFFL]

Great summation murph. #1 is by far the most important and #6 is least important. The rest of them are sorta jumbled together for me but we need every one of them to progress to the next level.

[Murphy3]

regardless of what anyone thinks, bradley is a guy the mavs need back.
he was the one person that had any consistent success guarding tim duncan and karl malone.
the mavs need him back

[giostar]

I agree with you there Murph. Having Him and Booth next year is going to be great. Especially with the new zone defense rule coming in. They are both going to be able to sit inside a little more and block shots.

[Murphy3]

that's if the mavs decide not to trade booth for a banger.
the mavs will make some moves, but i do see booth and bradley back next year

[Hales233]

No, you're wrong LAMOO Murphy3, go suck a di*k nobody wants you around here.

[Big Boy Laroux]

c'mon now hales, we don't need any of that.

[Murphy3]

wow, that was harsh

[Hales233]

I don't give a fu*k anymore, if this moron continues to post under two different names I'm going to call him on it. This board is fast becoming like all other message boards, with murphy just saying, "No, you are wrong." I'm not putting up with that BS

[Murphy3]

excuse me?
i'm causing no problems here.


hales, i haven't done anything to you since i've been here the past couple of weeks.

i apologize if we've debated, although i don't really recall debating much with you.

actually, people are posting like crazy and it seems like alot of good ideas have been thrown out there in the past couple of days.
yes, i was rude to thekid, but i apologized, and things are fine between us.

so, i do not see what your gripe is

[MFFL]

hales - believe me when I say I don't think murph is LAM. I would not post on this forum if LAM was here. If murph is LAM, he's laid off to the point that he is basically a different person.

[TheKid]

Hales, I don't know if I'm sold yet either, but believe it or not, it's gives the board some flair. It doesn't matter if either of them are here, all views should be open for discussion.

As long as we stay away from whose better Fin or Dirk we'll be fine. Especially when we all know Finley is God and Dirk sucks [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] (just kidding)

[Murphy3]

there you go again kid, trying to start crap. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
my views are not different from alot of people here. alot of people have voiced basically the same opinions in the two weeks that i've been posting here.
frankly, this message board is cranking out posts left and right now. alot of people are excited and are having fum posting their opinions, and debating.
i apologized for being rude to thekid, as far as i can tell, that's the end of it. he doesn't seem to be holding it against me. now, i'm not sure why you're mad at me or why you're signalling me out, when many people have been arguing and discussing things.
but, that's your choice.
have fun

[turbo.mav]

murph.. just lay off the " your're wrong hales" crap alrighjt

[Murphy3]

i'm not the only person here that says that someone else is wrong.
and sometimes, it's needed.
i've been told that i'm wrong several times.

[Fidel]

That´s just was I was trying to say to the Kid in the other thread. There are alot of different opinions and it doesn´t matter to me if someone thinks mine is wrong. I don´t take it personal. Perhaps the other guy is right there and I didn´t see something. It´s all ok.

[Murphy3]

part of talking sports is debating, telling and proving that the other person is wrong.
although we will have to wait for some of the proof to come out next year, it's ok if people don't agree and think someone else is wrong.
that's fine. damn, you have to have that in your life unless you go through life and have everyone agree with you.
thekid has changed my mind on occasion about things, that's just the way it goes.
he didn't say, "you're wrong" but he basically said it in different ways. everyone does that when you debate. that's how talking, arguing, debating works.

[TheKid]

Well said.

[Murphy3]

i wanted to bump this one up because thekid and i agreed.
just so everyone can see that it can happen

[MFFL]

I don't think thekid has ever agreed with me. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

[Mavinator]

I've found it's pointless to argue with stupid people.

[MFFL]

I stand corrected. Thekid did agree with me once over in the NBA section. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]