Nowitzki and Pierce opt out of contracts
Both Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce have decided to opt out of their contracts and become free agents on July 1st.
According to reports, Nowitzki on Monday sent the Dallas Mavericks an official notification of his intent to opt out. Nowitzki will now become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career but no-one in the league expects the 32-year-old to actually leave the Mavericks.
Teams and free agents can begin negotiating on Thursday at 12:01 a.m. ET and Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson has already booked a flight to Germany, where Nowitzki lives in the off-season, which will get him there in time for the opening of free agency.
By opting out, the German forfeits the $21.5 million he was set to earn next year but does now qualify for a new $96 million four-year deal from the Mavericks. Dallas are prohibited from offering a longer deal because of the NBA’s over 36-rule which doesn’t allow teams giving a player the league maximum if they turn 36 before the contract expires.
Pierce, the Boston Celtics’ captain, notified the Celtics on Tuesday of his decision to opt out just a day before Wednesday’s opt out deadline. Like Nowitzki, Pierce forfeits $21.5 million in salary next year and like Nowitzki is expected to re-sign with his current team for a maximum of $96 million.
Reports suggest that Pierce will sit down with the Celtics first before fielding offers from other teams who can only offer a maximum of four years and $93 million. The Celtics will be hoping Pierce re-signs for less than the $21.5 million but accepts the longer deal. If Pierce was to make less money next year it would mean a double saving for Boston because they are in the luxury tax.
It’s more than likely both players will stay with the teams they have played with for the whole of their careers, but with so many teams with salary cap space this summer anything could happen.
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