The Mavericks have been and are a team of one star, a star who’s now venting his frustration at his lack of support.
Yet again, free agency has hit the NBA and left Dallas wanting, with no elite player to pair with Dirk Nowitzki. The big German is tired of doing it alone, but he doesn’t know why the Mavericks haven’t been able to lure the big names who could give him a reasonable shot at a second NBA championship.
In an interview with German newspaper Spiegel — helpfully translated by a Reddit user — Nowitzki sounds off on the only franchise he’s known through a career dating back to 1998.
“We, as an organization, really have to begin to question everything,” said Nowitzki, who re-upped with the franchise for three years and $25 million — a team-friendly deal intended to allow the Mavs cap space for stars. “Is it me people don’t want to play with? Is it [coach] Rick [Carlisle]? Is it [owner] Mark [Cuban] and some agents and players hold a grudge because he blew up the 2011 champions? Nobody truly knows.”
This offseason, the Mavericks landed/settled on Harrison Barnes (four years, $94 million) and Andrew Bogut (through a trade), bringing in supplementary players as last-ditch efforts. That was after whiffing on Mike Conley and Hassan Whiteside, along with not even getting in the room with Kevin Durant.
This offseason hasn’t been an outlier: Dallas has failed in pitches to stars like Dwight Howard and LeBron James, and remember that DeAndre Jordan saga? Even when Cuban gets a verbal agreement from a star, the rug is pulled out, and the 38-year-old Nowitzki stands alone.
“Over the last five years, we have been continuously in for the truly big names in free agency, but all we achieved in the end was that we got them more money and a better contract elsewhere,” Nowitzki said. “As for me personally, I don’t truly care how much I make these days, my main focus is on playing for a winner.”
In a conference with the Warriors, a juggernaut group of All-Stars compiled on one squad, Nowitzki’s chances of playing for a winner aren’t great.