5 biggest disappointments of the 2017-18 NBA season
2. Nerlens Noel’s Mavericks tenure
When the new league year began on July 1, the Dallas Mavericks reportedly offered restricted free agent Nerlens Noel a four-year, $70 million contract, according to Wojnarowski. Noel declined in hopes of receiving a larger offer sheet elsewhere, which the Mavericks would then have to match to retain him.
That offer sheet never materialized, causing Noel to accept the one-year, $4.2 million qualifying offer from Dallas. It was an enormous gamble on himself, but with one strong season, he’d be poised for an enormous payday as an unrestricted free agent this summer.
About that.
In Noel’s first game of the season, he racked up a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double off the bench in less than 20 minutes. He bounced in and out of the Mavericks’ starting lineup over the first few weeks of the season, but his playing time began dropping precipitously once November rolled around.
Following a Nov. 11 matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers during which Noel didn’t see the floor, head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters, “There’s no doghouse here. There just isn’t. It’s pretty simple. You compete, and if you earn minutes, you get minutes. You’ve got to compete. And our guys have to have an edge. No one’s given anything.”
A few weeks and one hot dog halftime incident later, Noel elected to undergo surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. The Mavericks expected him to miss roughly four to six weeks, according to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News, but he instead wound up sitting out for two-and-a-half months.
Upon his return to the lineup, Noel found himself splitting time with backup big man Salah Mejri. He then received a five-game suspension for violation the NBA’s anti-drug program — presumably for his third positive marijuana test — ending his 2017-18 season prematurely.
Can Doc Brown get this guy a time machine so he can go back and accept the Mavericks’ $70 million offer? He’ll be lucky to get a fraction of that this summer.
Next: 1. So. Many. Injuries.