Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle recently shared an update about his injured big man, Nerlens Noel.

Here's what Mavs insider Earl K. Snead tweeted:

https://twitter.com/EarlKSneed/status/948989155144617984

It's a bit of positive news, but to say things have not gone well for Noel and the Mavericks is an understatement.

The 23-year-old, who was once regarded as a promising big man and a feared rim protector, has been out of the lineup since late November, when he elected to have surgery for his injured thumb.

Noel has played 18 games this season, and only gets a measly 12.2 minutes of action per outing. It's far from the production that the team had hoped for when they acquired him at last year's trade deadline and also when they decided to re-sign him this past summer.

Also, him not being given reps on a team that's currently 13-26 greatly shows the unfortunate trajectory of his career.

Don't be surprised if he gets shipped on or before the 2018 trade deadline. It has been reported that the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers have had talks of swapping Noel with the Lake Show's young power forward, Julius Randle.