Dallas Mavericks, Nerlens Noel Still Far Apart in Contract Negotiations
It's been over a month now since the start of the free agency period.
A couple of blockbuster trades were made since then and marquee free agents have either re-signed with their old teams or found new homes. Lower-tier free agents who have a good shot at a roster spot are also off the market by now. But surprisingly, one of the most intriguing free agents is still available on the open market.
Before the start of free agency, a lot of pundits had assumed that Nerlens Noel would receive max offers from multiple suitors. But sadly, nothing could be further from the truth.
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This happens every offseason, and Noel is just the latest victim of restricted free agency.
Noel is a big part of the Mavericks' long-term plans for the future, but so far negotiations have been difficult and the two sides are still far apart in contract talks.
"We're looking forward to the future and the whole Noel situation is a little unfortunate I think," 13-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki told the Dallas Morning News.
"We traded for him to keep him for the long run. I'm not sure what the latest is there, but I'm hoping that things will work out and he's coming back to the Mavs and we'd have a crew that at times can be very athletic — when I'm out of the game," he continued.
A handful of teams actually had the salary cap room to offer him a max deal at the outset of free agency. But since the Dallas Mavericks are willing to match whatever offer he gets, these teams decided to look elsewhere instead because they don't want to tie up their cap space and waste their time chasing someone they can't get.
Negotiations between Noel and the Mavericks are ongoing, but the Dallas Morning News' Eddie Sefko has mentioned that there won't be a resolution anytime soon.
