Dirk Nowitzki Plans to Return to Mavericks Next Year Rather Than Retire

Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki told the New York Times' Marc Stein he intends to play out the remainder of his contract and return to the club for his 21st NBA season when the 2018-19 campaign gets underway. 

"As of now, I'm planning to come back," Nowitzki said this week. "I feel great. I've only missed one game all season. I signed a two-year contract because I wanted to play two more years. And here we are."   

The Mavericks declined Nowitzki's $25 million team option for the 2017-18 season last June before re-signing him to a new two-year, $10 million contract that includes a $5 million club option for the 2018-19 season. 

Since inking that deal, Nowitzki has looked sharp despite assuming a smaller workload. 

Dirk Goes 5-5 from 3 Point Land

In 24.8 minutes per game—the fewest he's played since his rookie year—Nowitzki has averaged 12.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game on 46.0 percent shooting from the field, including 41.9 percent from three, for the rebuilding Mavs. 

Should the club officially bring him back this summer, Dirk will almost assuredly make some moves up the NBA's all-time scoring list. 

Entering Tuesday's tilt against the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center, Nowitzki (31,139) is sitting 280 points behind Wilt Chamberlain for fifth all-time and 1,153 points shy of Michael Jordan's fourth-place mark.