Dallas Mavericks Plan to Match Any Offer Nerlens Noel Receives
The Dallas Mavericks have been looking for a center who can act as an anchor in the middle ever since Tyson Chandler left. DeAndre Jordan would have been a suitable heir apparent if only he didn't back out on his verbal agreement with the team and re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers back in 2015. After that, the team had to make do with Zaza Pachulia.
But Pachulia wasn't the answer and Andrew Bogut didn't fit either this past season. Fortunately, the Mavericks found someone with a very similar skill set to Chandler in Nerlens Noel.
Noel will become a restricted free agent this offseason, but re-signing him is one of the top priorities for the Mavericks this offseason and they are planning to match any offer he receives. So it seems he isn't going anywhere.
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"Noel is going to be a guy that we've got to get signed. He's an exciting young talent and I do think he can expand his game, but we've got to be careful about doing too much too soon," Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
"So much of the success in this league is really geared toward a group of guys being tied together in the locker room and having a set of definable skills. We want there to be an element of positive predictability within the team so that everybody knows what everybody can do," he continued.
The Mavericks acquired Nerlens Noel from the Philadelphia 76ers before the trade deadline in exchange for Bogut, Justin Anderson and a top-18 protected first-round pick.
It was a great trade for the Mavericks. They got rid of an injury-prone center and a seldom-used shooting guard. The team didn't even have to give up their first-round pick since they didn't even make the playoffs. Instead, the Sixers will get two second-round picks from the Mavericks.
The 76ers didn't know what to do with Noel because of their frontcourt logjam. But he will get the chance to shine with the Mavericks.
