NBA Free Agency: Will Dirk Nowitzki Return To the Dallas Mavericks?

Update: (3:22pm CDT) New update on the total contract value. It's apparently four years at $96 million.

Update: (3:15pm CDT) A report out of Dallas, per Chris Broussard of ESPN, the Mavericks are apparently offering Dirk Nowitzki four years and in the neighborhood of $84 million.

Update: (2:10pm CDT) According to 105.3 FM The Fan in Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki is flying back to Dallas tonight to meet with Mavericks' team president Don Nelson.

Looks like this could be a good faith sign from Nowitzki and maybe we could see a deal reached after the free agency period begins at midnight eastern time tonight.

In just over 12 hours from now, the stroke of midnight will bring on one of the biggest free agent frenzies in NBA history. It will also be one of the most star-studded lists of free agents that we've seen in quite some time.

Just a few names on that list who NBA fans, players, and management alike will be watching are LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh, as well as Paul Pierce and Amar'e Stoudemire—who could both opt out of the final years of their contracts to join the free agent pool.

Another name that will hit free agency is Dallas' own, Dirk Nowitzki.

Dirk notified the Dallas Mavericks that he was opting out of the final year of his contract—which would have paid him $21.5 million—to test the free agent waters. And who could blame him?

This is going to be the first time in his entire career that he will be able to be wooed by other teams after jumping from Germany to the NBA as a teenager.

Team president Don Nelson has already booked a plane ticket to Germany where Dirk has been spending his time during the offseason. He wants to make it clear to the team's all-time leading scorer that he is their priority.

“He is our No. 1 priority—period,” Nelson told the Associated Press .

Maverick point guard Jason Kidd also told the AP that he knows that free agency is an opportunity which Dirk has not had in his entire career, and he wouldn't blame Nowitzki for listening to other teams, but he does expect him to eventually return to Dallas.

If Dallas wasn't serious about re-signing Dirk to a long term deal, and keeping him in Dallas for the rest of his career, Nelson wouldn't be making the long flight to Germany. When asked how long the flight was, he told 105.3 FM The Fan in Dallas, "three movies and a whole country CD."

While it would make Dirk's decision easier if the Mavericks were able to go out and sign a big name free agent like Dwayne Wade or LeBron James, the team does not have the cap room to be able to write that big of a check. To get that kind of move done, they would have to do the same type of thing that several other teams would need to do to land a top free agent, a sign and trade.

As of right now, it's highly unlikely that the Mavericks will, or even can, land the likes of Wade and James, but they could look to other names outside of their all-time leading scorer.

Before Nelson, and team owner Mark Cuban, become too comfortable of the fact that they believe Dirk will be back, let's not forget what happened with Steve Nash when he tested free agency and ended up out west with the Phoenix Suns.

Since Nash's departure, the Mavericks have won just one playoff series since blowing a 2-0 series advantage in the 2006 NBA Finals.

A lot of the fans here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area have long questioned Dirk's ability to bring the Mavericks a championship. About the same way they question if Tony Romo has the ability to bring the Dallas Cowboys another championship.

While the opinion varies amongst fans in this area, the Mavericks are very serious about bringing him back and will do everything they can to make sure that Don Nelson comes back from Germany with a signed contract in hand.

If Dirk is serious about testing the waters, he would have never opted out of the final year of his contract. While I understand that it's a normal decision among players wanting the free agency experience, don't be surprised if another team comes along and offers a better opportunity than Dallas can.

But, before Dirk makes any decisions, he's going to do exactly what other players are about to do. They're going to wait and see where LeBron James goes and what kind of monumental contract he's going to sign.

James will set the tone for each and every free agent out there and, as for as my opinion goes, the contract he signs is going to set a dangerous precedent for other agents to hold out on other teams for more money, more options, or the dreaded no-trade clause.

While we don't know how this is going to play out over the next few weeks, this should be the most interesting free agency in NBA history.

How many players will be wearing new uniforms next year?

Will Dirk Nowitzki be one of them?