Three Mavericks players will opt out of their contracts

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The Dallas Mavericks were very competitive this past season despite having a very interesting offseason last year with the whole DeAndre Jordan mess. With that in the review mirror and their offseason in full effect now three of the Mavericks key players, Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams and Chandler Parsons, have reportedly opted out of their contracts and will become free agents.

From Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram regarding Nowitzki

“Nowitzki plans to opt out of the last year of his current contract.”

From Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News regarding both Williams and Parsons

“Deron Williams is expected to opt out of the final season of his two-year contract, making him a free-agent on July 1, a source confirmed.”

“Chandler Parsons already has said he will exercise his option to become a free agent this summer.”

Let’s start with Dirk Nowitzki. He has stated before that he wants to stay in Dallas. The reasoning behind him opting out is probably because the veteran would like a low salary deal to stay with the Mavericks. He was expected to make a little over $8 million this season. I, along with everyone else in the basketball world, would be shocked if he left to sign with another team. Nowitzki already took a pay cut last year in hopes to acquire more talent. He might be doing the same this offseason. The 37 year-old still played great this past year, averaging 18.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

After being bought-out of his contract with the Brooklyn Nets, Deron Williams had a nice bounce back year, averaging 14.1 points and 5.8 assists per game. He was productive leading the offense and looked like his old self with the plays he made. Williams, 31, was set to make around $6 million this year but is now looking for a long-term deal. He will also make close to $14 million from the buyout agreement with the Nets. Like Nowitzki, I can see Deron Williams returning to the Mavericks with a nice contract as he proved he can still compete at a high level. For a couple of seasons Dallas was always looking for a regular starting point guard and they’ll do whatever they can to keep him.

Chandler Parsons is coming off one of his worst years in the NBA. He has been hampered by injuries since he signed with Dallas a few years back and recently missed a majority of the season with a knee injury. Parsons was set to make a little over $16 million this season. He will be looking for a larger deal this offseason. This situation becomes interesting. At times Parsons struggled in Dallas while other times he looked great. They still have second year player Justin Anderson, who played well during Parsons absence, so I can see Dallas making a pitch for Parsons to stay but not as aggressive. At 27 years old, he still has room to grow but he has health questions so that might leave the Dallas Mavericks to move into another direction.

The salary cap is projected to skyrocket this offseason so it is no surprise seeing many players opt-out of their old contracts. It’ll be interesting to see where these guys end up. Dirk Nowitzki will most likely stay, but Williams and Parsons will be looking for bigger deals down the road.

Welcome to the 2016 NBA free agency.

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