So what happened, why is it that no one wants to pay Noel? Well, for one thing nobody has cap space. If they do have cap space, they are holding on to it. The idea as well is that Dallas is probably going to match whatever salary is offered to Noel so what's the point. There is something bigger going on here and that is that the craziness of last summer killed the free agent market for this year's players. Ian Mahinmi is going to turn 31 before next season is over. He is not a guy you can throw the ball to in the post, he's not a great roll man, and he is a pretty good defender. Last summer, he signed a 4 year 64 million dollar contract. This year, Nerlens Noel, who will turn 24 at the end of next season cannot get a deal even close to that size. There are multiple bigs in the league that really cashed in last summer and in summers past and now those same types of guys cannot get paid.
Unfortunately, Nerlens Noel became an unrestricted free agent in the wrong year. It is hard to see how guys are going to be able to cash in like they have in the past. Guys like Noel are not going to get the contracts that they used to. Would you rather pay Noel 20 million dollars a year or use that money to go out and get guys that can play defense and shoot 3's? In today's NBA, the value is in floor spacers and guys that can defend wing players. Sadly, I don't know if Nerlens Noel can help you beat the Warriors. He's a great player and teams would be lucky to have him, but he is not going to get the kind of contract that bigs in the league used to. The league is changing so rapidly and it is no longer the league where a big man can have a good series in the playoffs and get a huge payday. It is a league where teams are going to be a lot stingier with their money because of how much they have to pay superstars. The salary cap is 99 million and there are only so many players that you can pay with that before you are into the luxury tax. It will be interesting to see what happens with Noel. My guess is that he will try and sign a one or two year deal with a player option and see if he can get more after this season. I think he will be a Maverick next season, but at what price.