Many expected the Sixers to trade a big man at the deadline and Jahlil Okafor was the top candidate to be moved. Nothing materialized with Okafor and opposing teams, but Philadelphia was able to move toward having a balanced roster by trading Nerlens Noel to the Mavericks.
The team will get Justin Anderson, Andrew Bogut (who is a buyout candidate) and a 2017 protected first-round pick in exchange for the former No. 6 overall pick. The first-rounder is top-18 protected and if not conveyed this year, the Sixers will instead receive two second-round picks. As our Reverse Standings indicate, Dallas would have to put together an incredible stretch of wins in order for to end up as a team with a top-12 record, so it’s unlikely that the pick conveys this offseason.
The Sixers could have held onto Noel, but it would have meant paying him a lucrative contract in restricted free agency or losing him for nothing. Philadelphia has no cap issues now, but GM Bryan Colangelo doesn’t want to start accumulating expensive assets, especially when he understands how much the market for centers has tanked. Everyone knew the Sixers had to make a trade. It hurt their centers’ trade values and having Noel on a long-term, more expensive contract wouldn’t have helped to increase the demand.
Dallas gets a center who complements Dirk Nowitzki and will make a nice long-term on-court partner for Harrison Barnes. The Mavs will have to hand him a pricey contract in the offseason and I speculate that it will be a deal in the $16-$18 per year range. That’s overpaying for what Noel is right now, but it may be an appropriate value for what he can become during the length of a four-year deal. He has the quickness and the defensive prowess to become one of the top rim protectors in the league and the Mavs should be taking chances on players who are just entering their primes.
From the Sixer perspective, it’s easy to get frustrated. More future second-round picks? Another project player? Why did the team oust Sam Hinkie if it was going to continue to use his strategy? Valid concerns, but the team isn’t ready to compete and there wasn’t a reasonable Noel deal that was going to put them in that position, especially with the latest Ben Simmons news.
So our question to readers is how do you feel about the trade from either side? Do you believe Dallas got the better end of the deal or do you think both sides improved? Please take to the comments section to give us your input on this subject. We look forward to hearing your opinion.
I think it was necessary for the sixers, but the mavs got the better deal. The sixers had to get rid of at least one of the two centers for more time for Saric and Embiid. While I think they were hoping to get rid of Okafor because Noel had good chemistry with Embiid and played better beside him then Okafor. But every team knew that and were probably offering next to nothing for Okafor, so the best deal would be for Noel, and it wasn’t necessarily a bad trade, because they got a young wing player with potential, as well asa potential first rounder, and if not second rounders. Mavericks won, but I like the trade for the sixers under their circumstances.
Four points for Noel after 25 minutes playing against the Big, Bad Pelicans.
The pelicans suck now because they got rid of all there role players. You can’t expect to win games with Hollis Thompson and Solomon Hill in your starting lineup
Dirk and Noel against Boogie and The Brow?
Can’t expect much scoring from Noel. He’s averaged only 10 points a game in his career. Even then, it’s not uncommon for players to struggle after getting traded mid season since the player, team, and coach has to adjust and figure out how to work everything out on the fly. It’s different for guys like Cousins who can be told to just sit in the post and go to work, or to just sit out on the perimeter and shoot.
9pts 10reb and a block and steal…thats really not a bad stat line for somebody after what,1 or 2 practices on a team that had alot of moving parts on it.and he was never really considered much of a big scorer anyway.
Also Dallas won,and both of those teams are fighting for that final playoff spot.
Like the deal for both sides even though dallas has to pay Noel. They have finney-smith so it doesn’t kill them to lose Anderson, who has had a tough season. If he can be used a little better at the 3/4, and start knocking down more shots, he can end up being really valuable, especially for them, considering the roster they’re putting together as of now. I think that plus the 2 2nd rounders in pretty good value for Noel, when everyone knew he had to be traded and you were losing him in a couple of months, plus the fact that he hasn’t shown consistency when he has actually been healthy
Still Noel is young, and I has a great skill set for modern NBA 5. He can guard pick and roll, and he can cover a lot of ground defensively, and get back and protect the rim. That team is accumulating some good 2 way wing players, so I like the fit of Noel at the 5, allowing them to switch defensively when need be. They also still have Mejri, who is really good defensively, so that’s a good combo at the 5 moving forward for them, and they also still have Powell, who I like as well, and he is on a good contract that should be movable, if they want
…forgot to add that I also like Okafor in that Al Jefferson role off the bench. That type of 5 still does work decently in certain lineups with 2nd units. They still have him on his rookie deal for 2 more years, so no rush to move him
With Richaun Holmes having similar skills as Noel, I think they’re better off saving the money and acquiring assets.
Noel is a great player to lavish with money if you are over the cap. He isn’t the kind of player that you dedicate major cap space to on a rebuilding team. I feel bad for Sixers fans but this move is understandable.
Option 1 – trade him for a bag of balls + a low risk player with 2 years left on his deal.
Option 2 – wait until the offseason, match Noel. Then the 1st year becomes basically a no-trade clause for Noel, he must accept the trade. And they can’t trade him to the team he wanted to go to. So you’re looking at year 2 until he’s traded. Correct me if I’m wrong, but 2017-18 Max Contract = 25.5M aka 25% of the cap. So let that number soak in.
The problem with this trade, the salary dump that is Bogut should have conveyed an actual 1st round pick. Hinkie would have found someone that wanted to dump a contract and gotten a 1st out of it to facilitate a 3 team trade or something at least. Like take on Jeff Green, Jamal Crawford, or…. uh Bogut.
I say keep Bogut and make that ahole sit on the bench.
Your entirely right with this entire thing. It just made sense to trade him now. Could they have gotten more? Probably, but that’s a moot point now. Although I will say that I doubt Noel would’ve gotten a max offer from another team.
The best comparison is Bismack Biyombo 4/70M after his age 23 season. So even if Noel doesn’t get a Max offer, is he worth 17.5M/year? It’s hard to put that kind of valuation on a guy when they have a similar version of him on the roster already based on per 36 Min averages (Holmes). Colangelo is reminding me of late-stage Ruben Amaro Jr. He devalues his own assets through the media.
No,Scam Stinkie wouldnt of got a 1st rd pick for a bad contract.he did that once,and he got it from Divac,so calm down with over rating him.outside of that Kings pick,he got Noel and a extra 1st for Holiday,then he got a 1st for McW.thats it.dont even mention the “1st” in the Payton/Saric trade,it was our pick that was lottery protected.we had no intentions of getting out of the lottery,therefore,it was 2 2nd rd picks.
As far as Colangelo devaluing his players through the media.Noel is the 1 who ran his mouth in the media.Colangelo said he was open to making a deal to unclog the center position,which Stinkie created.he sat Okafor when a deal was close.then Port and Den completed a seperate deal that voided the close deal.that deal was reportedly with Port,who netted a 1st in a swap of centers.again,saying Colangelo hurt anyones value,when a deal was obviously necessary to everyone,is overblown.stop hating the guy because Stinkie quit.
Google JaVale McGee Sixer.
Google Thad Young trade.
No and no,i remember them perfectly fine.Thad shouldve netted a 1st round pick.Yes,i forgot about McGee.thats still what,20 million or so for a pick in the 20s.
Genius!!! Yup,geniused right out of the league.to bad his “longest view in the room” didnt see himself becoming unemployed.
Real gms who are geniuses keep their jobs.they actually put together teams capable of wins.when they leave or get fired,other teams call to try to get them.
Jah.. 28 Minutes, 28 Points, 10 Rebounds. Reason not to trade him… Joel Embiid’s health will always be a big ? mark. Reason to trade him… package to move up and grab Markelle Fultz/Lonzo Ball.
As a Sixers fan — great deal , noel the slob and team bigmouth who would have been overpaid next year is someone else’s issue.. Embiid will never play more than 60 games and 35 min per ever making the need for a cheap scorer. As for Noel. Ring better on “D” .. they always give up a butt load of points no matter who is in.
Its basically ownership didn’t want a expensive insurance policy for Noel. As a Sixer fan i would of prefer to kept Noel longterm even if it meant overpaying him. Lets face it Embiid is a question mark and if i had to choose between Noel and Okafor longterm it would be Noel. Sure he’s not a great low post scorer but he’s a much better for this team going forward. Okafor is old school and he doesn’t get up and down the court like the rest of the young guys they have. I think some of you guys are underrating Noel. Holmes is good but he isn’t nowhere as near as good as Noel defensively.
I preferred to keep Noel as well.all the talk of us getting stuck with him if we matched was bogus.ofcourse teams wouldve tried to pay him big to try to get him cheap 1st.but if a team was willing to pay him,they would’ve been willing to negotiate after we threatened to match,and likely wouldve made offers afterwards if we did match.
Still gotta wait and see though.if we actually use the cap space,then it would’ve made more sense to not have to worry about using that money in that area.
Sixers got fleeced
I think Dallas won the trade, but it was still good for the 76ers. Although the could have gotten more value, they got a young player they like, playing time for Jah and Holmes, and save tons of money for free agency. At the end of the day, sixers fans should be happy that this whole log jam thing is over, but Dallas should be happy they got a good player.
Noel made perfectly clear before the season that he did not want to be a backup, or a role player, or insurance. He wants to start, and he should.
He was never going to re-sign with the Sixers, and if they matched a RFA offer, they were going to have an over-priced unhappy backup on their roster.
Dallas clearly won the trade, but it was a move Philly had to make. Best of luck Noel.
It’s a wash, both teams benefit but in different ways. Mavs take a risk on a center they need and 6ers get what they can use.
Two second round picks are what the Sixers can use? Or are you referring to Justin Anderson? Both seem crazy to me.
The Mavs obviously got the better deal even if the pick conveys into a first which it wont. They immediately become a playoff threat that can put alot if stress on a team offensively with their outside shooting pick-n-roll combination and defensive you have one of the best bigman defenders in the league Dallas just became sneaky dangerous and an elite guard away from a potential top 5 team in the foreseeable future
Understood the drama had to be done but didn’t like the deal. I just feels like Colangelo is not a great G.M when it comes to making deals. He reveals his hand too often and the whole he handled the Platform situation was messy and unprofessional. How did the Sixers get more for Jerami Grant when they traded him to OKC, than they did for Noel?
Because in that trade they gave Okc salary relief
Dallas won the trade. It’s not even a discussion. The closest argument to justifying the Sixers return is that they were screwed no matter what they did. That’s not a very persuasive argument. If Noel resigns for 16mil, then the Sixers decision looks even worse.
You’re saying you’d rather pay Noel 16M vs Holmes 1M? Noel would be a backup getting starter money. I’d rather use 16M towards a starter in FA over the next 4 years.
Colangelo did not cause this problem. Hinkie himself gambled on Okafor being a vsluable asset. The problem is when teams seen he is not good for the NBA as of today, his value was worthless. Hinkie should have traded that pick that year to Boston when they wanted Okafor so bad.