During the 2016-17 NBA season, the Philadelphia 76ers were contemplating whether to trade Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor. They ultimately traded Noel to the Dallas Mavericks for Andrew Bogut, Justin Anderson, and a 2017 protected first round draft pick.
With the Mavericks retooling, the 23-year-old was considered a building piece after signing Harrison Barnes to a four-year, $95 million deal in free agency. As Noel is a restricted free agent, the Mavericks will be able to match any offers for him. Unfortunately, no other team has tried to sign the center as he has changed agents according to Newy Scruggs of NBC 5:
No other NBA clubs tried to sign the restricted 6-11 center. He has a one year qualifying offer of $5.8 million on the table but it’s not to his liking so he switched agents.
While it was previously reported numerous teams were willing to offer Noel the max contract starting at $25 million per year, free agency has not gone according to plan. Following Timofey Mozgov's four-year, $64 million deal from the Los Angeles Lakers last year, teams have learned from their mistake and have been very cautious.
After some injuries early in his career, Noel averaged 8.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in 22 appearances (12 starts) for the Mavericks. With it being difficult to justify the three-year center receiving a max deal, it will be interesting to see if changing agents will help him avoid the one-year, $5.8 million qualifying offer before the start of the new season.
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