"After two months of traveling, playing tennis, soaking in every pitch of the Texas Rangers' playoff run and generally recharging, Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki has a basketball in his hands again.

The reigning NBA Finals MVP recently returned to Germany to resume his customary workout routine with longtime shot doctor Holger Geschwindner and told ESPN.com on Saturday that he's going to find a team in Europe "soon" with the NBA lockout well into its fifth month without a settlement.

"It's going to take me a few weeks to get in basketball shape," Nowitzki said, "but then I'm ready. I can't stand not playing."

Although he continues to express optimism that the NBA season will be saved, Nowitzki has acknowledged that he has taken note of the blueprint established by Cleveland Cavaliers forward Omri Casspi, who announced earlier this week that he had signed a contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv in his native Israel that serves as a virtual letter of intent to join Maccabi in January if the lockout is still going, thus securing a spot for Casspi with a top European team early in a market starting to flood with established players."