Dirk Nowitzki limped into the interview room on crutches Tuesday evening and made it clear that, unless his ankle rehabilitation goes haywire, he'll be back for at least one more season.

It'll give the Mavericks a mulligan in terms of trying to send the face of the franchise out the right way.

Nowitzki and his teammates put a lid on an awful season Tuesday, and their game against Phoenix was overshadowed by Nowitzki's exit interview. He had hinted all season that he planned on returning for a 21st season in 2018-19. Then he confirmed it.

"That's the plan," he said as he sat with a calf-high walking boot on his left foot. "That's why I went ahead and got the surgery, get the rehab process started early. I'm planning on coming back. I didn't miss a lot of games this year.

"I said all year that I want to fulfill that two-year contract if possible. I saw nothing this year that was going to stop it. So we'll see how the rehab goes the next few weeks and how the ankle responds, but obviously I'm going to work toward another season."

. @swish41 “The plan is still to come back and work toward another season.” pic.twitter.com/gxsteyD8BG — Brad Townsend (@townbrad) April 10, 2018

What awaits for him remains to be seen. The Mavericks don't expect to have another death-march sort of season.

And with Nowitzki in uniform, it will at least start with the appearance of normalcy.

But after 20 seasons, Dirk understands that while he wants to usher this franchise into its new era on something of a positive note, there are no guarantees.

"It's kind of hard to sit here now after 24 wins and say we're going to have 70 wins next year," Nowitzki said with a laugh. "It might be a possibility we're sitting here again next year with 24 wins, which I'm obviously not hoping, but in your mind it's always a possibility. We're hoping to get some good players in the draft and good players in free agency and move this thing along in the right direction."

The nuts and bolts of Nowitzki's return are that he will remain in the walking boot for another three weeks or so, he said. He had surgery Thursday to alleviate pain caused by bone spurs in his left ankle.

It's something that had been bugging him throughout this season and periodically for several previous seasons. He had bone spurs removed from the same ankle early in his NBA career.

He then will move on to rehabilitation and eventually get back to basketball activities.

Along the way, the Mavericks will add a high-first-round draft pick and, they hope, some solid talent in free agency.

That, they hope, will be enough to give Nowitzki a fighting chance at more victories and more fun in his 21st season.

"That's certainly the plan," coach Rick Carlisle said. "I believe we will be better next year. But there are no guarantees in this. So, whatever the case is, however the team is constructed, having Dirk Nowitzki as a part of it is extremely important to me. I'm really just amazed at how he played this year with everything. He was so consistent."

Nowitzki said he hopes to be more productive next season by being able to move better.

Never blessed with great lateral quickness, he saw it reduced to zero this season as he fought the pain in his left ankle.

He also said he'd be willing to come off the bench if that's what needs to happen. In fact, that was a subject he broached this season.

"The starting unit wasn't playing well at all together; we kept trying to rotate people, find things that worked," he said. "So yeah, if that's what it takes to be a better team next year, we'll see what happens this summer. Anywhere I can help make this franchise better again, I'm here for it."

One certainty is that Nowitzki will feel nothing but love from fans who have been blessed to watch him grow from a teenager to an NBA champion and become the league's No. 6 all-time scorer -- at least until LeBron James passes him early next season.

Well, it's mostly been love, he said.

"It's not only the good," he said. "After every game, I go on Twitter and one guy says: 'Oh my God, just retire.' It's a little bit of both, some love and some hate."

In the end, though, his 77 games this season weren't destined to be his last.

Nowitzki averaged 12 points and 5.7 rebounds in 24.7 minutes per game. He knocked in 40.9 percent of his 3-point attempts.

And the losses, while painful, never dented his will to do whatever he can for the good of the franchise.

"I've said it numerous times that I want to help push through the tough times," Nowitzki said. "I came into the league, we had some tough times. Then we were riding high. We won 50 games every year and it seemed like it was easy. We took it for granted."

Now the rough times have returned, but the Mavericks do have some interesting young pieces, as Nowitzki said.

And one very interesting old piece that will be back again.

"He loves playing," Wesley Matthews said. "He's one of those rare entities in sports: 20-plus years, same team, unselfish, makes sacrifices, greatness -- and that will and drive to compete. It's awesome to be around him."

For at least one more year.

Twitter: @ESefko