NEW YORK — Dirk Nowitzki was recently of the belief that it wasn’t realistic to expect Carmelo Anthony to leave the New York Knicks and sign in Dallas as a free agent.
With Anthony already having opted out of his deal, however, and with the Mavericks completing a trade that brings Tyson Chandler back to town, those odds may have changed.
Speaking before Steve Nash’s charity soccer game in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday, Nowitzki said he’d participate in the recruitment of Anthony, who is expected to have a formal meeting with Dallas at some point in the process.
“For sure,” Nowitzki said, when asked if he’d like to speak with Anthony. “I mean, if Dallas is on his radar, he’s one of the best scorers we have in this league. He can score with the best of them. So if that’s really a possibility, then we’d love to have him.”
But in his traditionally humorous style, he admitted his participation might not ultimately have much of an effect on Anthony’s decision.
“I was active [in recruiting] the last couple of years, but it didn’t do anything,” Nowitzki said. “I was active with [Deron Williams], he stayed [in Brooklyn]. I flew to L.A. last year to meet with [Dwight Howard], and he went to Houston. So I guess they don’t like me much.”
Adding Chandler to the mix might change some free agent perceptions about Dallas as a destination capable of winning immediately, but that remains to be seen. Nowitzki wouldn’t talk too much about the trade that had just been completed, because he said he hadn’t been officially filled in on the details. The idea of bringing back a former teammate that contributed to winning the lone title in Nowitzki’s career, though, was certainly exciting.
“He helped me get the championship,” Nowitzki said. “We had great chemistry together, and if it’s true I’ll be more than thrilled.”
Nowitzki himself is a free agent this summer, but it’s long been widely known that he’ll re-up in Dallas. He reiterated that he wouldn’t even consider taking a free agent tour this summer to see about playing anywhere else.
“I’ve been in Dallas so long it wouldn’t even feel right to go somewhere else, wear a different jersey, live somewhere else,” Nowitzki said. “I never saw that happening in 2010 the last time I was a free agent, and I’m not going to see it now. I think [Mark Cuban] and I are going to find a deal that’s acceptable for both sides, and then hopefully get better again. I like what we did last summer, and now we’ve got to build on it.”
The topic of LeBron James came up, of course, because though his leaving Miami seems to be unlikely, he did opt out of his contract and is now an unrestricted free agent. Nowitzki realizes it’s beyond a long shot to lure James, but knows that every team must try when the game’s best player technically becomes available.
“If he’s out there and we’ve got cap room, I guess all the teams have got to try,” Nowitzki said of James. “He’s the best player in the league we’ve got right now and if he’s a free agent — it obviously doesn’t happen very often when the best player in the league’s a free agent — then you’ve obviously got to go out and try. I’m not sure what our chances are, but you’ve at least got to try.”
And if Nowitzki were to get the opportunity to pitch LeBron on coming to Dallas, what would he say?
“You can have the keys to the city,” he said. “It’s all yours.”
