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Heading into his second season with the Dallas Mavericks, center Nerlens Noel had high hopes of cementing a prominent role with the team.
That hasn't exactly been the case through the first few weeks of the season as he's played in a limited role off the bench and is dealing with a nagging left thumb injury.
However, it appears that there is some growing concerning with his work ethic that may be playing into his lack of consistent playing time, according to Newy Scruggs for The Dallas Morning News.
My sources tell me that Nerlens Noel is not known as a hard worker.
I’m told he doesn’t have a sense of hard play and that’s not going to fly with a head coach like Rick Carlisle who had to cut his teeth as a NBA player.
Until Noel shows a better work ethic other players will get minutes.
The questions around his work ethic draw a major red flag as this could quickly lead to things going sideways with his standing with the organization. It also provides reasoning to why he's playing in a career-low 12.5 minutes this season through 18 games played.
The fact that he has fallen outside of the rotation has put his entire future prospect for a long-term contract next summer up in the air.
Keep in mind, he had held out much of the summer as a restricted free agent eyeing a lucrative deal, but that never came — as he inked a one-year, $4.1 million contract in late August.
If he continues to trend in this direction with this sticking to him as part of his reputation, the chances of him receiving a huge contract offer next summer are quite slim.
There is still plenty of time for him to turn it around and make the most of his situation in Dallas, but he's certainly not off to an encouraging start to his fourth year in the league.
