Deal breakdown: Nowitzki and Pierce

It was no surprise that All-Stars Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki agreed to terms with their current teams on Sunday, but they represented very different directions for the two teams in question.

Dallas kept Nowitzki by agreeing to a four-year, $80 million deal that basically handed $16 million back to the team -- Nowitzki could have received as much as four years, $96 million but opted to take less in the hope that it would free the Mavs financially to pursue some better help.

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