As the Mavericks head into the offseason looking to add talent, and potentially another star, to the roster to complement Dirk Nowitzki, the German appeared on Ben and Skin on 105.3FM in Dallas to discuss the coming summer. The Dallas Morning News transcribed a few of Nowitzki's more interesting quotes, so let's take a look at what he had to say….
On the team's ability to add players this offseason:
"It's easier to turn a franchise around if you have cap space. You can go for free agents, you can go for a big sign-and-trade. We could be a lot worse off and be locked in on a bunch of contracts. And we've got the draft. This is a big summer for us. I think [Mark] Cuban is as fired up as me. I've been to the gym a couple of times working out already; I see him in his little box suite, going to work already."
On top free agents Dwight Howard and Chris Paul:
"We'd love to get one of those two. We'd love to get a player in here who can create his own shot and be a superstar-type player. It's still a long way to go until July. Those guys need to clear their minds a little bit and get away and then start thinking what they want to do with their futures. Hopefully, that's where we come in and put a great pitch out there and see what happens."
On making a pitch to free agents:
"I'll definitely be a little involved. But I'll be in the draft 'war room' for the first time … order some pizza and talk some basketball. I got one year left on this deal and then I'm coming off the books. So if that helps for us to be better I'm going to take a paycut. That's part of the pitch. Cuban and Donnie [Nelson] have got to be part of the pitch. I think Dallas and the fans here, the sellout streak, the city to live in is gorgeous and has gotta be in the top five in the league. Hopefully, some of those guys will decide to come, and if not, we've gotta have a Plan B. If none of those top free agents come, we gotta make some moves with sign-and-trades or something. We want to get back to the playoffs and be a factor. We owe it to these fans who come out every single night to support us."
It's worth noting that when Nowitzki refers to his willingness to take a paycut, he's likely referring to his next contract. The NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement prohibits the veteran forward from renegotiating his current contract to reduce his existing $22.72MM salary for the 2013/14 season.