Dirk Nowitzki isn't holding his breath on the Dallas Mavericks landing Carmelo Anthony.
When asked Friday about how realistic it would be to see Anthony in a Mavs uniform, Nowitzki said: "Not really."
"Somebody in his camp brought up the Mavericks first. It's not like we brought him up. If we're actually on his radar, then it's great. Then, we obviously have to look at it," Nowitzki said as he prepared for his Heroes Celebrity baseball game. "Like I've said, he's obviously one of the most explosive scorers that we have in this league. If a player like that has your team on the radar, [president of basketball operations] Donnie [Nelson] and [owner] Mark [Cuban] obviously have to look at it. Do I think it's realistic? No."
Sources have told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that potential free-agent destinations for Anthony include Dallas, Chicago and Houston.
While it sounds unlikely the Mavs will get Anthony, Nowitzki is still making his way to the Big Apple next week, where he plans on attending former teammate Steve Nash's charity soccer game. This will be the first time that Nowitzki has been able to participate in Nash's event.
Nowitzki could be in the same general location as Anthony just as free agency is about to begin. Does that mean he could take part in some recruiting?
"I don't think so," Nowitzki said. "I'm just going to enjoy my time and play some soccer. I don't think recruiting is part of the plan yet."
Nowitzki remains firm on his stance that he will re-sign with Dallas.
"Nothing has really changed. Cuban and I will meet July 1 when it's legal," Nowitzki said. "Hopefully we'll just get a deal done pretty quickly. We all know that's what needs to happen. Both parties want the same. We'll just need to find a middle ground for me to feel respected and for the franchise still to have enough cap room left to do some good things this summer."
Nowitzki does remain optimistic about how the team was able to take a strong step forward last summer with the acquisitions of Monta Ellis and Jose Calderon. The plan is to add pieces to that core.
"We want to build on the good offseason we had last year and get even better," Nowitzki said. "We'll see how that goes."
While the record shows he's not optimistic about landing big free-agent fish Anthony, he's still ready to put his faith in the Dallas front office.
"I've learned with Mark and Donnie that anything is possible," Nowitzki said. "Anything is possible with those two guys."