11. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks (Player Option)
If there’s one thing that can be said with virtually 100 percent certainty about the 2016 class of NBA free agents, it’s the fact that Dirk Nowitzki is going to be staying with the Dallas Mavericks. Not that the Lakers completely have a spot for him right now considering what they’re currently building, but it pretty much just goes without saying that Dirk isn’t going anywhere at all.
However, Dirk does have a player option for next season that comes after he signed a deal with the Mavs for less money than he could’ve gotten elsewhere (and quite frankly deserved) so that he could stay in Dallas. He’s shown nothing but a tremendous amount of loyalty to Mark Cuban and the Mavericks organization over the course of his career and no one should expect any changes in that regard in the 2016 offseason.
What will be interesting to watch, though, is whether or not he opts into the last year of his contract or if he elects to opt out. If he chooses to go the latter route, it will almost surely be to try and get a bit more money at the end of his career rather than continue help the Mavericks save money. Either way, it’d be a massive surprise if he’s anywhere other than Dallas next season.
Next: No. 10 Batum