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Will he or won’t he? That’s the question surrounding Dallas Mavericks big man Dwight Powell this summer. Powell has a player option worth $10.26 million next season that he can choose to exercise. There are conflicting reports on whether he will, though.
Today, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News reported that Powell will opt-in and pick up his player option before signing an extension with the Mavericks.
Told by reliable source that, contrary to Yahoo report last month, Dwight Powell plans to opt in and play for the Mavs at $10.2M next season and sign sign an extension after July 5. No wonder Powell spoke so certainly of remaining a Mav. Has until June 29 to make it official.
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) June 6, 2019
Townsend’s report was also confirmed by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
Townsend’s information is contrary to that of Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes. In May, Haynes reported that Powell would decline his option and become a free agent. Haynes did note that Powell’s priority was to work out a new deal with Dallas after opting out.
For his part, Powell recently denied speaking with anyone about his potential contract decisions this summer.
“I did not have any conversation prior to that article coming out with whoever wrote it,” Powell told reporters this week at the dedication of the Mavs Tech Center in partnership with CitySquare. “So I don’t know where the information came from. I didn’t have any conversation with anybody about that.”
This brings us back to our original question. Will Powell opt in or not? He has until June 29 to decide.