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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; Dirk Nowitzki reached out to free-agent center Dwight Howard. (Photo by Noah Graham/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With the news of free-agent center Dwight Howard reportedly not wanting to re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, other players around the league are trying to recruit the seven-time All-Star to join their teams.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki\u00A0said he reached out to Howard and told him he would like him to join the Mavs.\u00A0Howard will become a free-agent July 1 and can sign with any team, but could make more money if he stays in Los Angeles.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\"I reached out to him and told him we'd love to have him,\" Nowitzki said Thursday evening, via ESPN.com. \"That's really about it. It's not like we call each other every day.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Grinning, Nowitzki added, \"I haven't written him a letter. We've just had a little phone contact and that's about it. He's just weighing out his options. I'm sure he has a couple of meetings set up for whenever that might be in early July. Hopefully, the Mavs are one of those teams and we'll go from there.\"&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MAHONEY: Shane Larkin selected No. 18 by Mavericks in NBA\u00A0draft&lt;/strong&gt;\nA max deal for Howard would be five years, worth $118 million if he stays with the Lakers. If he signs anywhere else, the deal would be four years,\u00A0$87.6 million.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/si-wire/2013/06/28/mavericks-dirk-nowitzki-reaches-out-to-dwight-howard>